It’s funny how a pandemic truly can change everything. Not just the way our children go to school, or how we practice healthcare, or even how we shop for the simplest of things that we took for granted in the past, like Clorox wipes or toilet paper.
In truth, this pandemic has even changed the way we love. To explain how I see the shift, below is my love letter to my friends and family.
To my loved ones,
I know this pandemic has impacted all of our lives in ways we never could have imagined. I understand how hard it is to continue to maintain social distancing, wear masks, and yet still try find some level of “normal“ in our current lives. In my role as a physician, and one who has served on the frontline against COVID-19, the way I express my love and how much I value our relationships has changed.
You can see my love each time I decline a hug, because I never know who may have COVID-19, including me.
You can see my love every time I decline an invitation to spend time together, because I value our relationship so much that it is not worth the risk to get too close.
You can see my love each time I remind you to use hand sanitizer, not because I am a germaphobe, but because I don’t want you to forget and accidentally become sick.
You can see my love in spending time together only if outdoors, and with as much social distancing as possible, or with masks. Because sometimes, love means to protect, and this is the best I can do to protect you right now.
It would be easy to mistake my love as emotional distancing. As the beginning of the end of our relationship. It would also be easy to be frustrated with me. To remind me that you have not gotten sick yet, so it’s ok.
But, it is not ok. I have witnessed families torn apart by COVID-19. People devastated by unknowingly bringing COVID-19 to others, only to see a life lost. The burden of grief we carry from the frontline is too heavy and deep to forget. I love you too much to let that happen to us.
I hope you too can understand that love today is no longer about warm embraces and get-togethers. Love is distanced and, at times, feels cold and lonely. Love is about protecting those that I care about (to the best of my ability). Love is working long hours and continuing to maintain distancing and masking.
Love has always been hard, but perhaps it is never been harder than amidst a global pandemic.
Published originally on Medium: https://medium.com/@kellycawcutt/love-in-the-time-of-covid-4c214aec340b