"Living Under the Threat" - two of my favorite historical women - 4/19/20

As many people know, two of my favorite women in history are Anne Frank and Laura Ingalls Wilder.

CNN says that this is Day 51 of the pandemic.
51 days of the fear of getting deathly ill, of being alone in a hospital and separated from loved ones
51 days where many have lost jobs or been furloughed.
51 days of fear of food insecurity
51 days of uncertainty, anxiety, the unknown

Anne Frank, her family, and four others endured 761 days living in fear of being captured by the Nazis and sent to a concentration camp.
They lived in an annex above a warehouse, where they had to spend part of every weekday tiptoeing around, talking in whispers, and not being able to flush a toilet.
They relied on a very small circle friends for food and supplies.
They could not go outside.
Even going downstairs was a risk.

During the long winter of 1880-81, Laura Ingalls Wilder and her family endured great suffering. Because of constant blizzards in her town of De Smet, South Dakota, trains bringing food and supplies could not get through. The Ingalls family survived on a diet of brown bread and a few potatoes. They burned twisted hay to keep from freezing. Even though they lived in town at the time, they felt isolated from the other families because the weather made any travel outside their house too dangerous. They ran out of potatoes just as the chinook winds began to blow, and the first train was finally able to get through.

What we are going through IS difficult; there is no doubt about it.
Our lives are filled with uncertainty.
Some of us are dealing with anxiety and depression.
Some have lost their jobs and are facing serious financial difficulties.

What I am saying is that there are still many reasons to be grateful that we are not faced with what Anne and Laura experienced.
We are not in danger of being sent to concentration camps. 
Some of us may not have money for food, but there are programs to help.
We are not in danger of starving or freezing.
We can go out and enjoy nature.

We can hope for brighter and safer days.

"I don't think of all the misery, but of the beauty that still remains."
Anne Frank

librarianintx