Day 365…
This is not a finale.
This is more like the end of part one in the same way that the first Star Wars or Lord of the Rings movies ended. The Empire isn’t vanquished, and we haven’t gotten rid of the ring, but there is still some reason for hope.
A year ago, today, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic.
A year ago, today, in New York City, the St. Patrick’s Day Parade was cancelled. We had recorded 216 cases of the virus but so far nobody had died from it. It was announced that SUNY and CUNY classes would begin distanced learning for the rest of the semester.
A year ago, today, the White House held its first public news conference on the virus and announced that all flights from Europe were going to be cancelled a couple of days hence. Later in the day that was amended to exclude cargo planes from the ban. Then it was further amended to exclude Great Britain from the ban. Then it was further amended to exclude American nationals from the ban.
By the end of the day, there really wasn’t much of a ban in place at all - there were plenty of people still traveling for the virus to hitch a ride on.
And, obviously, it did.
A few days before, I had flown home to the United States from London. I remember being worried the day before I left that there might be some disruption to flights home. Should I fly home early? Surely not. I stayed. When I did fly home, you would have never known that anything was going on. Nobody so much as looked at me let alone took my temperature when I landed. I just sailed on through. It was business as usual at John F. Kennedy airport.
As we looked on, Italy was drowning in the virus and we pitied them. They were in lockdown and barred from traveling from region to region. Some of them were even wearing masks when they went outdoors. We all rolled our eyes thinking it was overkill.
The NBA had just cancelled the rest of its season and in the first of these posts I wrote that I feared that Broadway would be next. In fact, the next day, Broadway shows played their final performances.
A year ago, today, I wasn’t feeling well. By the end of the day, it was decided that we would postpone the following day’s work schedule.
Michael really wasn’t feeling well at all, either. I thought that there was a possibility that what Michael and I had was COVID-19, but neither of us I could find anywhere where we could get tested.
Except for the virtual Patti LuPone concert that I was on for two days several months ago, it’s been a year since I last worked. The cat has had a year of us always being here.
A year after all of this began, however, there is some reason for a bit of optimism. There are three vaccines against the virus that are approved for emergency use in this country.
More people in the United States have now gotten vaccinated against the virus that have gotten the virus itself. Nearly 33 million people have now been inoculated compared to the 29.3 million cases of the virus that we have registered as of this morning. With the former number accelerating and the latter slowing down, we seem to be heading in the right direction.
Sadly, in the last year, on top of all of the people we lost to all of the things that we usually lose people to, as of this morning, we have lost 531,865 additional people to COVID-19.
Yesterday, looking back, infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci who has basically become a virtual member of our family this past year said, “If you had turned the clock back a year … even though I've been through multiple outbreaks of different diseases, the thought that you would have 525,000 people in America to have died and about, you know, 28 million infections in this country, would have really been unimaginable.”
President Biden is vowing that every adult American who wants one, will be able to get vaccinated by May. Despite a rocky start, it is looking like what will stop many Americans from ultimately getting one is not a supply or distribution issue but rather a disinformation one.
The last Administration downplayed the severity of the virus to such an extent that there are still sizable sections of the population who believe that the virus is a hoax.
Joining in with the existing anti-vaxxers is a whole new group of conspiracy theorists who seem to believe just about anything that they read. I am not sure why I would need a microscopic tracker injected into my bloodstream when I’m not going anywhere. If Big Brother really wanted to find me that badly these days, all they would need to do is knock on our door.
Four former Presidents and First Ladies have joined together in a video testimonial urging people across the country to get the vaccine. The Carters, Clintons, Bushes, and Obamas have all shared film of themselves receiving their shots. Our last President and his wife did not participate. Despite the fact that it has now come out that they did receive the vaccine before they left the White House, there is no visual record of them having done so.
President Biden’s $1.9 trillion stimulus relief billed called the American Rescue Plan has now passed through both the Senate and the House and only needs the Presidential signature attached to it to become law. One Democrat, Maine Representative Jared Golden, voted against it claiming that there was already plenty of money left in prior stimulus bills to cover Maine’s problems.
Every single Republican in the House also voted against it.
Yesterday, Republican Senator Roger Wicker of Mississippi, despite his having voted against the bill tweeted, "Independent restaurant operators have won $28.6 billion worth of targeted relief. This funding will ensure small businesses can survive the pandemic by helping to adapt their operations and keep their employees on the payroll."
Over this last year, we have seen the Republican party disintegrate in front of our eyes. Led by an incompetent pathological liar in the person of our ex-President, the GOP has not taken advantage of a single moment when they could have separated themselves from him. Instead, they have doubled down on their support.
The result is exactly the systemic hypocrisy that is evident in Senator Wicker’s tweet. A large majority of Republican citizens across the country supported the stimulus bill. The Republican lawmakers who voted against it did so purely so as not to give the Democrats a “win”. That their constituents need what’s in this relief package did not enter into their vote.
The GOP in their desperate drive to win have completely lost sight of the fact that their jobs are to lead and to fight for what those who support them want.
It is hard to look back on the former Administration and be able, after four long anxiety-ridden years, to point to a single constructive accomplishment. The rich got richer and all of the rest of us did not. The virus was allowed to rage unimpeded.
The former President’s approval rating never rose above 50% for the entire time that he was in office. President Biden’s overall average approval rating this morning is at about 54% - nearly ten points above the highest rating the former President ever got. 70% of all Americans approve of the passage of the American Rescue Plan.
That today is day 365 since this truly started seems beyond comprehension. Clearly, though, there is a lot ahead of us that we are all going to have to face.
Things are going to start to open up again. Slowly, and probably for the first few months, erratically, theatres are going to start to offer performances again. What any of it will look like remains to be seen.
We have learned a lot this past year about health, but we have also learned a lot about racism and gender bias. How will we incorporate that new awareness into how we do what we do? The one thing that I am certain about is that whatever it is that we all think we are going to do is not going to be what we actually end up doing. We’ve had days, weeks and months to think about it, but until we all actually start doing it, we won’t know.
With every year that passes, we all change and grow. This year has been unique in that suddenly we all were taken away from our busy lives and, like it or not, we’ve all been forced to sit back and think a bit.
How have we changed? Until we are further away from this, I’m not sure that we will really be able to tell. But we have.
I’m grateful for having found this outlet to work through everything that I experienced. I am even more grateful that so many of you read them. Your readership gave me a sense of responsibility that kept me going. Nothing like a good deadline to keep you honest.
I started this by saying that this isn’t a finale, and it isn’t. The days are short and there are simply not enough hours in the day to accomplish everything, I will continue to publish but just not every day. I have a lot of work ahead, figuring out how to condense all of this into a coherent narrative. That I am excited about it, I hope is evident. If it isn’t, I am. The pictures will keep coming every Sunday on schedule.
I ended my first post by saying:
Be safe.
Be kind.
Be smart.
We still have a lot to face together as we move forward, and make no mistake, we will move forward. Our theatres will reopen. We will be able to start congregating together again. When? That’s the big question. I don’t have that answer - nobody does - but I know that it’s coming.
Until then, however…
Be safe.
Be kind.
Be smart.
And thank you.
I started reading your posts rather late in your writing, and I've very much enjoyed them. I look forward to others you may do. And keep the photos coming...they are droll, funny, honest, and sometimes beautiful.
Oh wonderful end to Part !, so happy you are taking this further--such terrific writing and observation. I'll think of you three in Ireland, I must leave my two kitties in the loving care of nephew Conor. Thank you for this wonderful run!