Greetings,
Sincere, heartfelt condolences to all of those in our community who have suffered the loss of loved ones, due to the COVID-19 virus. Back in March of last year, there was no way of knowing how this would affect our community. As we established a taskforce, developed protocol and strategized – I remember thinking and feeling as though we were truly dealing with an invisible enemy. There is no such thing as replacing a loss when we lose a loved one. Often times, it may seem as though the grief is endless. There may be five stages in the grieving process, but everyone grieves differently, and in their own time.
This has been one of our greatest challenges, as a community. Our nation leaders and community membership has bravely and fiercely come together to do everything we can – to protect our community. My hope is that our community continues to heal from our losses and will continue to follow the established protocols to remain vigilant, as we steadily get back to normal on this journey. As the rate of vaccinated members in our communities increases, so does the hope that we are doing the right things by staying six feet apart from those not in our household, washing our hands frequently and applying hand sanitizer as often as possible.
We all know wearing our masks and doing our best to keep ourselves safe is not easy. We’re beyond tired of breathing through the masks; but our efforts to follow the protocols is what has helped us all these months. I was confident then and am confident now – if we remain vigilant, we will get on the other side of this pandemic and experience our new normal. Stay safe.
Respectfully,
Rickey L. Armstrong, Sr.
