The coronavirus pandemic has changed our lives permanently. Through loss, triumph, and challenges, it is hard to remember what life was like “pre-pandemic.’ It is even common to watch a movie where people are in a crowd and quickly question in your head, “How are they all there that close and without masks?!” Social distancing, masks, and smaller gatherings have become the new “norm.”
For my family, our Thanksgiving was anything but normal. We normally spend the holiday with 25 plus family members at our Nana’s house. This year, we spent it at home with eight people in our immediate family.
Why? To protect our family and my niece Scarlett Alexa Sunderhaus. Scarlett was born September 28th. On this day, the Indiana State Department of Health reported 879 new cases of coronavirus for a total of 118,322. The state is also reporting 11 more deaths from COVID-19 for a total of 3,365 in Indiana since the start of the pandemic. 1,709 newly diagnosed cases and 13 additional confirmed deaths of people with COVID-19, raising the statewide tally to 289,639 known cases and 8,614 deaths in Illinois where she was born. On this day, 1 million deaths from COVID-19 were reported worldwide.
Our goal as a family is to protect the one who was born on this day.
