184,183 diagnosed.
3,721 deaths (more than 9-11).
6,043 recovered.
*****
A calm hovers over the panic.
Do you feel it?
People helping people.
People cheering us on.
Several local Sunday small groups made signs for us nurses, signs saying we are brave and strong and heroes, and when we came to work Monday morning they were hanging all over the walls to welcome us when we arrived.
I’ve never thought of myself as a hero.
Just a nurse.
When I think about heroes I think of Band of Brothers or 911 first responders, Frodo or Batman, or Ryan White or Ruby Bridges.
Not me.
But I will say
all my best friends who are
nurses are heroes to me.
The ones who pick up shifts even when they’re
scared;
the managers who encourage anxiety-ridden staff and build their teams even
stronger in the midst
of chaos. The ones who are in the ERs and ICUs who wear
body fluids like regular old daily accessories
and think
nothing of it. Even now.
They are the heroes. Always
have been. Always
will be.
I guess I am one of them too. Twenty-seven years under my belt. But the title still seems
reserved for them, my comrades,
my beloved friends
in the trenches
with me.
With each other.
Always.
So bring on the signs and hero-calling and late night mask-sewing-sessions. None of us
are good
at taking compliments. But I can tell you
your encouragement matters.
The battle is unforgiving, unrelenting, unimaginable, and unreal.
Keep telling nurses
they are heroes.
If you say it enough we just may
believe it.