As a child I remember my parents reading the obituaries in the daily paper. I don’t think they read each obit word for word but what they probably did was scan the names for anyone they might know.

From childhood on, I have also read the obits. Now that I have been reading them for over fifty years, although not an expert on them, I think I have learned something from them.

I scan each obit and every now and then something catches my eye. One that always comes to mind was a woman who passed away that was survived by six adult sons. Each son had Dr. in front of their name which tells me that aside from a ton of student loans for six sons, there was a lot to be proud of. That woman must have been busting her buttons when meeting someone new and they asked her about her family.

There is a saying that crossed my path one time that said to live your life so that your obituary is a good read.

For the most part they all read the same way: Name, Age, Birth Date, Death Date. Then there’s a list of survivors, maybe where they worked, and any clubs or organizations they were members of. Following that is the date, time and place of the services and burial, as well as charities you wish to make any donations to on behalf of the deceased.

There should be more creativity when writing a two-inch column about a person’s many years on this earth. Everybody has been somewhere, done something, or achieved some kind of recognition that deserves mentioning.

I realize that at the time all of this information is being gathered from next of kin, they are sad, distraught, and experiencing a host of other emotions while sitting in front of a stranger known as the funeral director.

Every now and then I come across an obit that catches my eye because it is written like a sweet song. Someone took the time to really give the deceased a proper send off by highlighting that they loved to sing or bake, cook or do volunteer work, or was an amazing wife / husband, mother / father, and grandma / grandpa. How about mentioning that the deceased loved to travel and what they learned about different countries and cultures during these trips. So maybe not everyone lead an exciting life but even if the deceased liked to stay home and do nothing but read books, mentioning that their interest was in history is still worth mentioning.

At a very young age, my oldest son told me that he wanted to be a millionaire by the age of thirty and frankly he didn’t seem to care what he had to do to achieve that. Needless to say that didn’t happen but I can tell you he turned out to be quite successful…but not by the age of thirty. But there is nothing wrong with setting goals and dreaming of your future.

If the surviving family has a great sense of humor, it could always be written that the deceased always dreamed of being a famous singer but unfortunately they couldn’t carry a tune in a bucket.

It might be in everyone’s best interest to write their own obit highlighting the dreams they had or events they experienced. Don’t forget to leave fill-in-the-blank areas for the funeral director. This, my friends, is going to be your last hurrah so you may as well go out with a bang!

We, collectively the United States of America, are in limbo. It was probably tolerable when we were initially told that social distancing, school closings, restaurant / bar closings, would last about two weeks. Not bad I thought…we can do this.

In the last four days, five states have ‘closed’ as well as beauty salons, tattoo parlors, nail salons, massage parlors, dentist offices, health clubs, and any other business that has ‘intimate’ contact with the public, are closed with reopening ‘to be determined’.

Self-quarantine is being suggested to stop the spread of the Coronavirus. Again, we can do this. I am noticing fewer cars on the road going to and from work as the company I work for, a construction company, is still operating.

Today is Saturday and to get out of the house, I took a short drive. Grocery stores, big box stores, drive-thru’s, etc. are still bustling. Looks like ‘social distancing’ doesn’t apply to everyone.

How about those thousands and thousands of college students that flooded the beaches of Florida for the last few weeks for spring break. The crowded beaches that were on the news meant that the college students weren’t taking this seriously. Now that a lot of the spring breaks are over with, the college masses are going to be headed home only to bring back anything they caught while drinking in groups, sunbathing in groups, and Lord only knows what else.

Today it was announced that at a minimum our new way of life may last at least another four months. Weddings have been canceled and funerals are non-existent except for the deceased because of social distancing.

Have we become so selfish in our lives that we cannot give up our way of life for a few weeks to try and get this under control? I’m a home-body so this hasn’t really affected me negatively. I’m looking to get some spring cleaning done by cleaning out closets and dressers, and might even tackle painting the basement walls. This morning I made some soup and baked some muffins. There is always something to do.

The longer we dig our heels in and not cooperate with the CDC, law enforcement, and follow health care suggestions, the longer we’re going to be going through what could be nothing more than a minor hiccup in our lives. I personally would like to see the entire country locked down for two weeks and anybody caught breaking the law will be penalized to the fullest extent of the law.

Harsh? Yes. I was unable to go to Florida to see my grandson last week and I don’t want to have to wait another six months to go just because some people think that all of this is a bunch of hooey and that the rules don’t apply to them. Right now they’re suggestions…in another week or two they could become law.

On a positive note, some folks are helping the healthcare providers by making face masks that are so greatly needed, celebrities are giving free mini concerts or reading children’s books online, people are sharing their suggestions for keeping the kids busy, and maybe a few folks have just gone a bit out of their way to be a little bit nicer.

I think this is a wake-up call in many areas of our lives and at least deserves some consideration on everyone’s part to make this work.

A little over two weeks ago, we were living our lives in our ‘normal’. Now we’re part of a global normal called Coronavirus.

Corona to most of us is beer…with or without a lime. Today the word is part of what could become a deadly respiratory illness. The United States is not at a loss for details and information on this illness. It’s on the radio, TV, blogs, Twitter, the tongues of every American, and in the newspapers and magazines.

Reading and listening to everything that’s available to us has made us experts on the Coronavirus. What we don’t have are cold hard facts. What we do have is rumors, guesses, and speculation. What we need and want is one individual who gathers all the facts on a daily basis and presents it to the American public once a day, at the same time, and on all the news channels.

This week I heard the Coronavirus will be over in two weeks, will peak in forty-five days, will be here in months from now and so much more that it’s difficult to sort out what the truth is. The fact is, I don’t think anyone knows what the truth is. It’s an unpredictable illness.

In the last three days, one of them being one of the biggest drinking days of the year known as St Patrick’s Day, we have seen schools, restaurants, bars, malls, movie theaters, churches, senior centers, libraries, all sporting events…professional as well as amateur… along with thousands of other types of businesses close across the country. Most of those closures will not be permanent. Some will.

Those Americans that have maintained a sense of humor have been very creative about all the toilet paper jokes and with good reason. Why hoard toilet paper for a respiratory illness? To try and combat this illness we have a new term for quarantine…it’s now called Social Distancing. In addition to a shortage of toilet paper, there’s a shortage of face masks, rubber gloves, disinfectant wipes, and every cleaning product imaginable, as well as canned goods, dry goods, and frozen food. The shelves at every store, from Mom & Pop stores to big box stores like Costco and Sam’s Club, are out of these products also.

If I recall correctly, about 50+ years ago I learned about supply and demand in grade school. Didn’t pay attention to that back then, or since, but I am today. Why? This is the first real time in my life that supply and demand has become an issue.

Coronavirus has caused a snowball effect. For example, if a restaurant closes, there’s no need for employees. Employees stay home with no pay. No pay means no money for rent / mortgage, food, gasoline, insurance, electric bill, car payment…and on and on.

The schools are closed so those that were getting breakfast, lunch, and after school care no longer have some or all of those available to them. If Mom and Dad work and can still work, there’s nobody to take care of the kids who are now to be home schooled. Those parents who can, work from home. Technology is proving to be very useful.

Then there’s social media…in this case I’ll address Facebook. Anything you ever wanted to know is on Facebook whether it’s true or not. In the case of the Coronavirus, there are facts, rumors, suggestions, jokes, threats, as well as some human interest stories about acts of kindness, generosity, and helpful suggestions for parents who are attempting to home school their children while their financial lives are crumbling. Lots of folks are suggesting that in 9 months from now there will be a huge baby boom as well as many more divorces because of the Coronavirus. Let’s face it, working parents are not used to being home with their children, spouses or significant others. Then there’s the added financial burden. There’s bound to be some fallout from this.

We have no choice but to take this on the chin…myself included. I was supposed to leave tomorrow to visit my son, his wife and my grandson who live 1,400 miles away. The airline kindly changed my travel plans for me. I’m disappointed but there’s nothing I can do but pray that this ends sooner rather than later so we can all get back to the ‘normal’ we know.

I wonder if there could actually be a bright spot in all of this. WHAT IF the kids that are home from school actually learn to fix their beds, clean their rooms, help with meals, dishes, laundry and other household chores? WHAT IF fun things were planned like Netflix movie night with popcorn, board games got dusted off and played, folks were nicer and more helpful to those around them, a few pay-it-forward gestures were done as well as other random acts of kindness?

Did ANYONE consider that this just might be our wake-up call?