Ripple in Still Water

          My sister lives in New York with her husband and their ten-year-old daughter on the Upper West Side near Central Park. Normally, we speak maybe once a week. Yesterday was my sister and brother- in-law's anniversary.  After I wished her a "Happy Anniversary", I joked asking her if she and her husband went to some fancy kosher restaurant. Obviously, the answer was "no". She cooked dinner. I asked her if it is as really bad in New York as it appears on the news. She said it is probably worse. She knows many people who have the Covid-19 virus. She mentioned that a hospital was recently put up in Central Park. They work hard to keep things as normal as possible for their daughter amid what my sister describes as like living in a Third World country. Then she started telling me about the various moments of kindness that she has seen and experienced.  The moments she told me about were not necessarily moments that she had experienced personally, the...

              We are only on day 8 of this new reality. Thankfully we are all healthy, yet as we live with social distancing; it seems like this has been going on for weeks. While we were watching the news, my wife innocently asked how long do I think this will continue. I think that this will continue through the summer and into the fall.  I'm the one in the family that "prepares for the worst and hopes for the best".  Our kids asked me if they thought they would be back in school. I told them that colleges and universities have started to cancel their graduation ceremonies. No, they aren't returning to school. I suggested that they prepare for the possibility of no summer camp.  Needless I didn't win any popularity contests. I can't watch the news without wincing at the numbers when we watch the news, It is hard not to wince when we hear about the impending shortages of masks, gowns, and ventilators. With my sister and her family in Ne...