I have often heard from my parents, and even aging peers, that among the many joys of aging is the increasingly long list of items that you are told, "You can't DO THAT anymore."

Though nine weeks seems a world way, it is helpful to recall that our self-imposed quarantine and national lock-down was about 'flattening the curve,' to prevent an unmanageable and perhaps much the more fatal surge of COVID19 cases, overwhelming our hospitals and healthcare system during this pandemic.

As a young man in 1751, George Washington visits the Caribbean island of Barbados, contracting smallpox.

It is as clear in my mind as yesterday how quickly many divides and gaps in the American culture and psyche narrowed, tightened or closed in the immediate aftermath of 9/11.

There is no estimated loss of life which we should consider an acceptable number but during a pandemic, there will be loss of life.

It is perhaps something of an understatement to say, as a middle-aged white male, that I am not really part of the target audience for most of the works of multi-talented actor/director/producer and increasingly successful entertainment mogul Tyler Perry.

As I write this, on Thursday, April 2, Georgia had its first diagnosed case of COVID19 one month ago. I started journaling about two weeks ago.

Hard as it may sometimes be to admit, we crave the routine, the known and the customary. This time is not that.