Memories may fade

image by https://www.quoteslyfe.com/

Yesterday I was on a zoom call with my sons and, as I told them now things are in England with “Lockdown 2.0”, they reflected on how odd it feels for them to hear people in other countries who are still so restricted by the pandemic, as they have been living normally for at least 4+ months at this stage. Their memory of their severe lockdown (including 24/7 curfew for several weeks) had already started to fade.

This had me reflect back on Hurricane Ivan in 2004 in Cayman. The devastation was so extreme that, at the time, it was not only hugely traumatic for all of us who lived through it (and the aftermath of what life was like), but also difficult to imagine life ever returning to normal. It certainly felt that way in late 2004 and the first part of 2005, but within only one or two years, things really were back to normal in Cayman “post-Ivan”. Cayman memories of Hurricane damage faded fast (and today we see almost all new construction being built lower than the storm surge flood levels. Hmm).

Thinking about where we are in the pandemic, memories will fade too. You see, humans are resilient. Recent vaccine news makes it possible that life will indeed be back to normal by this time next year, so the usual end of year festivities can return and we can look back and already think of the restrictions around us at the end of…