At home I have explained to the family that even if we could be certain the island has no Covid-19 cases, there is value in joining the planet in social distancing and in not gathering in large groups at this time. To do so when most of the rest of the planet cannot, when so many are hospitalized, some of whom will not recover, feels wrong. When there is a funeral next door, one should not throw a party.
This is a time to show solidarity with our family and friends who are sheltering in place abroad. And in doing so we will also protect each other in the event that this virus does find a way onto the island. We shelter in place not because sheltering is required but because sheltering is the way to join together in this planetary effort, because sheltering is the right thing to do.
The loss today of a young father to a cardiac event reminded me of how stressful a global pathogen is for fathers. Out here the family is led by a male who engages in higher risk activities to bring home food for the family. Many a father has failed to return from fishing out here in the middle of the Pacific ocean.
A short two hundred years ago fathers were the warrior protectors of their family. A family thrived under the aegis of a physically strong man. The descendents of those men lead families today.
Now however the threat to the family is a submicroscopic entity that cannot be seen let alone defeated by sheer strength. Perhaps nothing is more stressful for a warrior than an enemy one cannot defeat. An entity that attacks the family without being seen – a veritable ghost that kills. When defending the family, losing control of a situation invariably leads to defeat.
In the absence of effective treatments, a complete lack of medicines, and no vaccines, the pandemic pathogen is fully in charge. The pathogen is in control. For a father there is no worse feeling than your family being under threat from an undefeatable foe. A threat that persists day and night, around the clock, for endless weeks that become months.
The human fight or flight system was designed to be active only briefly to escape immediate existential threats. The fight or flight system, when pushed into being up and running for days without end damages the cardiovascular system, depresses the immune system, debilitates the mind.
I will never know the factors that led to the loss of the young father to a cardiac event today. Left behind is his wonderful wife, children, and family members. I only know that fathers, mothers, and families everywhere are trying to cope with a fearsome stressor the likes of which has not been seen for 102 years.
danaleeling 