Things have changed here at home, across country

Our way of life in Milam County has changed dramatically in the last few weeks. Just a few days ago the many things that we thought were so important are no longer important and something we had never heard of consumes our everyday way of life.  The question today is how much longer will this new way of life go on?

We are not out socializing as we have historically done. We are all very social beings and having personal contact with others is a huge part of our culture. From a coffee shop gathering to church; from the grocery store to a high school sporting event; from school functions to a service club meeting; from having friends over for dinner to getting out to see the grandkids.  All of this is suddenly gone!  And it is hard on all of us, but not as hard as the alternative.

Is it really necessary?  Well of course.  There is no cure for this menacing virus and our only protection is to avoid the spread by personal contact.  That means we must stay home and avoid others and thus deny ourselves a basic human need of socializing with others.  All we have to do is compare the staggering numbers of confirmed cases and deaths in other places with only two confirmed cases in Milam County.  Brazoria County has yet to impose a shelter in place order and its confirmed cases tripled last weekend.

At some point the numbers will peak and undoubtably some will let their guard down.  However, peaking numbers do not mean we can again go about our past normal way of life.  There will still not be a cure for the disease when the numbers peak and the virus will still be with us.  Until there is a vaccine and we are all vaccinated, this will be our way of life!  Thus, this way of life will be with us for a very long time.

I thank every Milam County citizen for complying with the shelter in place order. There has truly been an outpouring of support and many are finding other ways to communicate.  Churches are using Facebook live, meetings are held by phone or internet, online ordering and delivery is much more prevalent,                                and people are simply staying at home.  While we are not socializing in person, know that we are more dependent on each other than ever before in modern history.  Remember the chance you take might cause the death of the person you infect! Stay home and stay safe.