Letters

A few weeks ago, President Joe Biden made a plea for us to come together to finally beat this pandemic. He said, straight into the camera, “I need you.”

Van Jones said he was asking us for a “deeper patriotism.” Yet there are some Americans for whom mutual responsibility has no meaning. They are still refusing to wear masks, get vaccinated or socially distance in order to protect one another, despite the year of hell we’ve all been through.

I volunteered as a mental health care worker at Ground Zero after 9/11. One day, a large family came from Hawaii to grieve the death of their son/brother/uncle. The front care workers hoisted the lei they had brought onto one of the twisted 30-foot-tall pieces of metal, and everyone stopped working, hands on hearts, heads bowed, for a moment of silence.

When the family came inside, they were all still crying after that moving tribute to their loved one. I greeted them, arranging for food to be served and to just spend some time to sit and chat.

Through her tears, one sister said she didn’t understand how everyone was being so kind. I explained very simply that we were all grieving for her brother. And that was it. That was enough. That is why I was there, that’s why the kids from Bloomberg were serving them food, that’s why the front care workers were risking their health and lives outside.

That sentiment is exactly what we need to express to one another right now. We all need to be looking after one another and grieving with one another. It’s that simple.

I’m not sure what has so altered the American psyche since that day. We are again going through a time of loss, tragedy, horror and fear, as we did after 9/11. The only thing that we can do to get us through this, practically and emotionally get us through this, is exactly what Joe Biden has asked of us: Show compassion and caring for each other by our words and actions.

Paula Angelone, Ph.D

Southampton Village