Dispatch from Coronaville: Corona Connections

The Yip Family Gathering, Sunday, March 22, 2020.  This was such a joy and left me wanting more. Picture top to bottom, left to right are Uncle Robert (my mom's brother), Cousin Raymond (mom's cousin, son of her Uncle Rodrick), Mom, my brother Vince, me, my cousin Landon, Uncle Roland (my mom's brother), Aunt Coleen, cousin Bev (my mom's cousin, daughter of her Uncle Celian), my cousin Nicole (daughter of Uncle Roland), cousin Cherie (cousin of mom, daughter of Uncle Rodrick), and cousin Linda (cousin of mom, daughter of Uncle Rodrick). Missing is cousin DeeAnne (cousin of mom, daughter of her Aunt Yvonne) who was there but didn't have her camera up, my sister Dawn who joined later, cousin Dolly and her mother Margaret (spouse of Uncle Rodrick), and Colin and his mother Dora (spouse of Uncle Celian) who joined us by phone.  Whew! I hope I got that all right! Remarkably with only one days notice everyone who could come did come. I guess with the COVID-19 lockdown most of us don't have much to do!

We've really been fortunate so far. No one in our family is sick or been in contact with someone who is sick. We've got salaried paychecks that haven't been impacted by having to work remotely. We actually can stay home instead of having to work in risky situations like many of my my friends in the front line healthcare professions. In addition there has been an unexpected blessing, which is the focus of my blog today.

But first, a look at the numbers. On Thursday, March 19 I predicted that by yesterday, Sunday, March 22, we should have 26,300 cases of the Coronavirus here in the United States, and 433 deaths. It seemed outrageous at the time to add 16,000 cases in just 3 days.  But by Sunday evening we had over 32,000 cases--over my projection, and 416 deaths, just barely under.  With a higher percent increase of 220% my new projection for Wednesday, March 25 is that we will have 102,400 cases and will have surpassed China's total numbers since the start of the outbreak. Deaths will stand at 1,032. If, in fact ,the increased infection numbers are due largely to wider testing availability hopefully the deaths will be lower.

South Korea is interesting to watch.  I look at the New York Times Coranavirus Outbreak maps for the world and the United States at least twice a day. They are pretty accurate (although sometimes our local newspaper, the Columbus Dispatch has more accurate numbers for Ohio. But the NYT always catches up eventually).  I've noted that South Korea is increasing at a much slower rate than most other countries.  Their infections have been in the 8,000's for so long now and their death rate remains stubbornly low too.  Clearly they are doing something right--something we are not doing. I've heard that the key to their success at managing the outbreak has been widespread testing of everyone (not just those that are symptomatic) and among other things, a commitment to self-quarantining as means of protecting others as opposed to protecting oneself.  Here in the United States widespread testing doesn't even seem to be possible, and it seems to me our focus has been "how can I protect myself from the virus"  as opposed to "let me social distance for the sake of others". It's a small but important distinction.

 A Twinge of Fear. Up until yesterday I've really not been fearful of the virus itself. I take all the precautions recommended by the CDC and so on, but I've felt pretty certain that I won't get the virus and if I do that I'll survive it.  But then, yesterday COVID-19 entered my six degrees of separation.  A man by the name of Michael Bane posted a Facebook account of his horrifying struggle with the virus.  He went to Andrews University and many of my friends, including my cousin know him well. The combination of that closeness and the hair-raising ordeal he's been through made it all feel so  much more real to me.  And for the first time I felt a twinge--just a twinge-of fear of the virus itself.

Connections. But my main focus of this blog is not the numbers or the fear. It's relationships.  One of the unexpected blessings of this global ordeal has been the opportunity to reconnect with people I love, connect on a deeper level with others, and connect for the first time with still others.

Last night my Uncle Robert hosted a virtual gathering via GoToMeeting of all of the offspring of my grandmother and her three siblings.  It was a gathering of the Yip family, the Chinese side of our family.  Of course mom, and my uncles I knew very well, but most of the rest their cousins I had only met once or twice years ago and many I had never met at all. It was really amazing to see these strangers who look nothing like me and realize that they are all my family. It reminded me a lot of the family reunion on my dad's side back in 2017.  They all seemed like such great people--funny, kind, gentle folk.  Grandma and all of her siblings have passed away, but  Dora and Margaret,the spouses of her two brothers joined us by phone and it was so nice to hear their precious voices. At least one of my mother's cousins, DeeAnne, I feel like I've gotten to know and appreciate through our Facebook friendship. I've seen photos but never met her and it was cool to meet her and her husband virtually. It was one step closer to an in person meeting.  I felt a strong desire to get to know these people better, and I think my only sadness was that with the various technical difficulties--feedback from unmuted mics, some not being able to see all the participants on the screen--we didn't get to talk really that much.  I didn't have much to say myself but I wanted to hear stories. I wanted to hear about Uncle Roddy, Uncle Celian, Auntie Yvonne and of course Grandma. I wanted to know their journey and get to know the people who came from them.  When the gathering ended, I was grateful but also wanting more.  I'd like to do it again and hopefully get more stories.

Also this past Sabbath, we had our first official meeting of the "First Family SDA Church".  Basically it was Mom, Vince, Dawn & Jim and their kids, Uncle Roland and Aunt Colleen, Nicole, and our family getting together via Google Hangout to have church together.  It took us about an hour to get the technical kinks worked out, but once we did we had a really nice time of prayer, praise, and spiritual encouragement. Uncle Roland even played a guitar piece for special music and I had a story for the kids.  After the "service" was over everyone hung around to "fellowship" for another hour or so.  Later that evening we got together for "AY" where our boys presented a praise dance/juggling routine they came up with.  It's strange how it took being cut off from the world to reconnect with family that I normally wouldn't talk to except at Sabbath lunch during our summer or Christmas Florida visits. Next week Barbara's mom will be attending as well. Hit me up if you'd like to join us!

My Corona Classroom. Two laptops, my work computer for virtual instruction with my students and the home computer for my boys to work on. Papers to grade from pre-lockdown days spread out  on the bed along with textbooks and other resources.  At least I don't have to decorate. I may be the only person physically in the room, but every school day it's filled with virtual chatter, laughter, learning and real love.

Last, but not least are the current connections deepened over broadband.  Realizing that I may not teach my 8th graders in a real-world classroom again has been heartbreaking.  We are determined to have some sort of graduation for them--though when and how that will happen we can't say. And as for their class trip--this epic journey to Hawaii--a trip that they've already raised many thousands of dollars for, we are hoping to postpone to July.  But, my heart has been so touched by my students interactions online. Google Hangouts has been our central form of communication. Every morning I'd pop on to the Hangout to see them chatting away, making jokes and regularly expressing affection for each other.  I haven't had a such a close-knit class in a very long time and it is a beautiful thing to see and be a part of. Every afternoon we'd have our video hangouts to grade assignments and take questions on anything they needed help with. It was such a blessing to see them in their own environments--their safe places, to hear their voices. Ironically, even though we are physically apart, I feel like I've gotten to know them so much better, and I've found them to be even more amazing than I realized.  This week we are on our previously scheduled "spring break" so there's no new work to assign and the chatter on Hangouts is much less.  But to be honest--I can't wait to "see" them all again next week when online school resumes.