Dear Yuri,
NY, NY. There is the outside, the one we knew and took for granted. Now it looks far away, like the dreams we had when we were kids. That nightmare, where nobody can go out of their house because the unknown is outside, even though it looks exactly the same. The trees are there, the roads, the natural light during the day, the artificial ones at night. Even still, “it” is there.
We can´t see it, but we know it takes lives like no other sickness. I hear the police cars, the firefighters, and, believe it or not, Mr. Softy, the ice cream truck. Nothing gets your nerves like the ambulance sirens.
A few days ago, a good friend called to say her husband was in the ICU in Manhattan. That feeling, when you know you can´t do anything, even if you had resources. I only tell her that everything will be fine. She said, “We leave things in God’s hands.”
You can only hope. Hope your friend gets better. Hope to go outside without fear. We New Yorkers have hope! We have had terrible experiences before. Life goes on.
On the street, people try to adjust to the situation, but what is the situation? We learn about this unknown from the first places affected, and hope others will learn from us.
A few hours ago, my friend called and said her husband is out of the ICU. The feeling she has, and all of us have, is HOPE.
Even if it is from behind the window, we share that feeling every day at 7pm, cheering, banging pots, whistling or just screaming. We thank our heroes, the first responders, who do God’s work. From behind my window in New York, to the rest of the world, I send you HOPE.