If you have limited time, I would encourage you to quit reading now and just go look at some of the videos taken at the Memorial Drive event on Belle Isle on Monday. It was really quite poignant. It's so difficult to conceptualize what large numbers of deaths actually means, and this seemed like an awfully effective way of making it meaningful.
That said, some have argued (callously but correctly) that all these people were going to die eventually anyway. Yes, sure, but I'm pretty sure these people didn't want to go when they did. And certainly not in the way they did — mostly alone, many struggling for breath.
Some have also argued (again, callously but correctly) that wearing a mask is a personal choice. And so is deciding whether to stop at stop signs. It is your choice, but it's important for your personal safety and the safety of others that you do stop.
Dr. Deborah Birx was in Michigan this week and had this to say:
"We're asking for behavioral change and whenever you ask people to change their behavior, it needs constant reinforcement. But I can tell you every place that has instituted a statewide mask mandate, or a countywide mask mandate, we see the impact on the cases. So, it is not theoretical. Masks work, and they protect and prevent spread of the virus.”
We who have been blessed not to have lost a loved one during this pandemic can't possibly know what the mourners felt driving that route on Belle Isle. But we can honor their loss by doing our part to limit the spread of the virus.
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