A pandemic editorial: Far apart, but closer together

It seems a little counterintuitive.

We live these days in unyielding isolation, secluded in protective custody from friends and neighbors and even from family.

That brother in Ohio? That daughter across the continent in California? That aging at-risk parent or grandparent who lives quietly on the other side of town?

Who knows when we will see them again.

We have never been farther apart.

And yet, in many ways, we have never been closer together.

It seems a little counterintuitive.

That brother in Ohio? The one you'd see at Christmas but otherwise only occasionally text? He gets on a Zoom meeting with you now and seeing his face lights up yours. That daughter in California? The one whose busy life has always been too busy for phone calls? She actually answers her phone these days. Not only that, sometimes she calls you. That parent, that grandparent? How often you find yourself checking in these days. Not out of obligation, but out of love and concern and good wishes.

These frightful, lonesome, solitary days. We can't get together. But we find ourselves getting closer to each other.

It seems a little counterintuitive

We don't know what you think of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Doesn't really matter what you think of him. What matters is the intrinsic truth he shared during his daily coronavirus update to New Yorkers Friday. And that we want to share with you, and for that matter, with ourselves.

He used to set dates, he said, to go see his mother. Then something would come up, and he'd cancel those dates. Actually, something was always coming up, and he was always canceling dates to go see his mother.

Those other things always seemed important. But seeing his mother was what really was important.

And now, of course, he can't.

His mother is 88 and in protective isolation like most of us. Who knows when he will see her again.

We all know these things. Andrew Cuomo has no lock on intrinsic truth. But most of us need the reminder. Most of us let our busy lives get in the way of what truly matters.

If there are silver linings to this awful pandemic and to the dreadful isolation that it imposes, perhaps that reminder is one.

Mother's Day is coming. It's very possible you won't be able to see Mom this year. Make a vow to make it her best Mother's Day ever in spite of that, maybe because of that. And Father's Day is coming after that.

But even better, don't wait for holidays. And don't restrict it to the folks.

Reach out every day in a special way to someone who matters to you.

We can't touch each other.

But we can touch each other.

It seems a little counterintuitive.