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COVID-19
Getting Through and Finding a Silver Lining by Meridith Little
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hrough interviews with people in Tucson and others with ties to the area, come compelling ideas and perspectives that bring us an opportunity to connect with our similarities and allow ourselves to be enlightened by the vast differences of our experiences. The news images of COVID-19 hospitalizations are haunting, yet the stories of recovery may lead us to believe in hope for a better tomorrow. We may embrace the idea of community and connection and say, “We are all in this together.” The truth is, we are all in the same storm, but we are in quite different boats.
Taking It Seriously The “when” of taking the coronavirus seriously varies from one person to another. Some claim that they had the virus in December of 2019 and that their doctor treated them for the flu. For others, early January was when the first warning of COVID-19 began to sound. In mid-February, the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show would draw many thousands of gem enthusiasts from the U.S. and around the world. This year’s attendance was somewhat lighter and masked faces could be seen throughout the venues. The masks looked a bit strange, but the show went on as usual. 18
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Stacia Reeves, 51, a youthful, spirited high school teacher who easily demonstrates her passion for her students and their education, became aware of the virus Stacia Reeves in January. Lending a hand, she helps her husband set up for the gem show. She followed the news and warnings from the World Health Organization. For Reeves, the biggest impact of the coronavirus hit home when spring break ended and the schools closed. No one could enter the school buildings. Every student’s locker held their belongings. Every teacher’s classroom was set up for classes to begin. “All I keep thinking about was, how will we get our stuff? Every item a teacher needs to teach was locked in the school. No one could access anything. And then we were expected to begin to teach on Zoom,” says Reeves. “There are many moving parts in the process to begin teaching students at home. Not every student has a computer or access to a computer. For students without computers, study packets had to be developed and the students needed to pick
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them up—from a car, since no one could go into a building. Not every student has a car, or the transportation to get to a point of distribution.” After reading about the dilemmas of educators and students, coming to understanding the far-reaching impact of the pandemic comes into clearer focus. Education, the one-time backbone of a strong society, had little news coverage at that time. Tucsonan Ben Bradford, 45, a married father of three, took the coronavirus seriously when he saw the news coverage of the cruise ships having troubles. Ben Bradford “Plus, I had helped organize a conference for early March that would bring 500 people from all over the U.S. to the La Paloma Resort.” According to Bradford, three people wore a mask and he was one of them. Two weeks after the conference, two attendees died of the virus. Bradford and his family took every safety and sanitizing precaution from the beginning of the pandemic. He took his children out of school. As manager of 90 employees, he began to set them up to work from home, remaining several steps ahead of his corporate office in California. Then just on the heels of the employees working from home, the California corporate headquarters shut down its Tucson branch. In March, Tucsonan Nik Groesser, 55, a jack of many trades and current gig worker for shopping cart, and his husband were visiting a relative in Paris, Nik Groesser when they began to have serious concerns about getting home. President Trump had placed a travel ban on incoming travelers. They took a fast flight out of Paris and landed at the LAX airport. “It was the most exposed and unsafe I have ever felt,” says Groesser. “The CDC screening took six hours. There were thousands of
