COVID-19 hit CeCe’s family. One by one, Mr. B, Mr. R1, CeCi, Mr. R2, Mr.C all exhibiting minor symptoms. Only Miss K, who likes to spend a lot of time in her room, is unscathed.
There is a rainbow hiding in the dark cloud. I hope. If their trend prevails, Thanksgiving should be bathed in antibodies and our Chocolate Friday candy-making should survive.
Fingers crossed and prayers said.
I’m not pooh-poohing the seriousness of COVID-19. I watched the season premiere of The Good Doctor; I cried remembering, and hope we soon exit the nightmare.
The election is over. I breathed a sigh of relief. No violence. No rioting. No drama. Won’t that be nice as we embrace 2021?
Here’s a little more Good News I found this week.
Trump supporters take to TikTok
So much vitriol. So much fear that the election results would result in looting violence. Maybe the slow trickle of results acted as a pressure release valve. I know some people believe that the results are not real. I know some people will continue to be disappointed. Still, these young people give me such a hopeful feeling.
I had a little difficulty reading the print in the videos, so I recreated it here.
Two Blind brothers start a non-profit.
Bradford and Bryan Manning have a degenerative disease that is slowing causing them to lose their vision. It all started when they were five and diagnosed with Stargradt disease. It’s an inherited form of macular degeneration.
Bradford and Bryan decided to let people know how it feels to buy clothes that you cannot see. You can purchase mystery boxes full of ultra-soft shirts, cozy socks, knit beanies, and sunglasses for somewhere between $30 to $200. You buy them sight-unseen.
Talk about turning lemons into lemonade!
All the profits go to organizations like Foundation Fighting Blindness. Since they formed their Two Blind Brothers NPO, they’ve even picked up celebrity supporters like Ice-T and Richard Branson.
Unboxing a blind purchase
Holiday gift-giving? I think so. Here’s their website: Two Blind Brothers. (Photo from the website)
Colleges teach us a thing or two about COVID-19
A while ago, I wrote about University of Illinois and how they created a safe environment for students. This week I found out that, although many colleges are bonfires of COVID-19 outbreaks, several are operating in what, at a glance, appears to be a carefree college existence.
What’s their secret?
Colleges with low COVID-19 infection rates created their own public health microcosm.
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In fact, 74 colleges reported NO cases through October 22! Some are private, some are public. Some are in rural areas, some are cosmopolitan.
Sara Lawrence has had just three COVID-19 infections. It took a lot of preparation. They created traffic patterns for each building and require key card entrance. Each dorm room is single occupancy, with some set aside as quarantine rooms. Everyone feels connected through a concerted effort by staff. Says one student:
The activities council does an event almost every day either in person or online. I would end my night by going to the open mic, for example, where a bunch of students just get on a Zoom call, and everyone performs whatever they want to share.
Most of us know how interconnected students are on campus. That’s part of the reason they want to away to school. According toPhilip Gressman, a mathematics professor at the University of Pennsylvania, and Jennifer Peck, a professor of economics at Swarthmore University, “Without any preventative measures in place, it is likely that every student and staff member at a mid-size university of 20,000 students would catch coronavirus within a single semester.
So, with mitigation steps in place, like the three W’s, good testing regimes, contact tracing, and isolation, control of the virus is possible.
- Wear a Mask
- Watch your distance
- Wash your hands
- Work together
I added that last W. Help me pass it on.
Good news: I’m learning from the young.
Who says you can’t teach an old dog new tricks? Sometimes it just takes a little more patience.
What’s on your good news radar this week? I’d love to hear. More is always better.