When I was a little girl my parents took my siblings and I to the ocean in Cape Cod. Just this past summer we took our kids there, because there was so many beautiful memories. But we primarily stayed on one side of the Cape. Once on my families adventure my parents and little brother and sister went to the other side of the Cape, where the ocean is rougher and the waves are huge. I remember staring out at the water and holding tightly to my Dad’s hand on one side and my brothers on the other. We were little just kids and we watched in awe and amazement as the waves crashed against the sand. We laughed and jumped around as waves knocked us around and we thought we were safe because we held on tightly to our fathers hand. Then we saw it, a massive wave rising in the distance. My parents yelled at us over the noise as it rose to “DO NOT LET GO” and “get back!” “Back up!” As much as we could. We did – we stepped back but the sand tried to hold us in place as the water pulled it forward. The waves that had surrounded us moments before that we thought nothing of, all of sudden we were facing the fear that the impact was going to hit harder. That we needed to brace ourselves, it WAS coming, we could see it and we couldn’t get away fast enough so we needed to dig deep – hold on tightly to each other and “GET BACK!” Then it came, crashing all around me – salty seawater in my eyes and hair the impact hit so hard it knocked me off my feet and the air out of my lungs. I could feel my dads firm grip on one side and then before I knew it my fingers that were so tightly gripped to my little brothers hand slipped. In seconds the wave carried him out! As the water retreated my mom grabbed my hand and my dad rushed forward grabbing my brother out of the rushing waves and pulling his little body to safety. But it’s a moment I will never EVER forget, and we didn’t go back this summer to visit that beach. This…this is how I feel about what our family is facing today. We are looking out and can see the momentum of the virus building, doctors and medical teams are screaming at everyone to brace ourselves, to hold on to each other, and to BACK UP! My daughter has a life jacket and has a firm hold on my hand, my husband and I can swim… but my son – my little boy – he is exposed. We need everyone to listen, we need everyone to hold on, so we do not lose him, so he doesn’t slip through my fingers. Whether the wave hits hard or not, whether you have a life vest on, or can swim, think about the people around you – take precautions, take a step back, go into isolation – if not for yourself then to protect someone else. There is no reason to lose anyone to the wave of this virus, if we all brace ourselves.
Brace Yourselves – COVID Post
