One Good Thing: ‘We’re in this together, Houston’

HOUSTON – One good thing to think about today is the phrase “We are all in this together.”

It’s a thing people said before this pandemic to cushion a blow, to round out a meeting, to make it all sound some form of right when everyone knows something is wrong.

Now, we all know something is wrong. It’s all around us. The masks. The sick. The distance. And now, when people are saying “We are all in this together,” it doesn’t feel like lip service, it feels like something to cling to in a world of many islands.

We’ve found some ways this week to be together. They have fun names like Zoom and Skype. We’ve jumped into people’s living rooms and studies and nooks. We’ve seen their wall art and pets. We’ve been more exposed to our colleagues and friends than ever before while maintaining distance. And it’s all been all right. In some ways, perhaps even better.

KPRC 2 asked people to share the silver linings of this pandemic. Here’s what you said. Take a look. It just might warm up your heart today.

I celebrated a birthday party the other day, meeting new people from across the country’s living rooms. One partygoer sat at a cabin in Maine, gently rocking on a screened-in porch. Another person in Oregon lit up something other than tobacco during our call. And yet another in Florida danced in joy behind her kitchen island, celebrating the prospect of a future in-person meeting.

I felt great jumping off that call, knowing that distance can be bridged by just reaching out.

And like you, I’ve placed teddy bears in windows and traipsed through the neighborhood myself, stalking bears, my two little ones in tow. Seeing the joy wash over my toddler son’s face when he spotted a bear in the Tudor down the street is a sweet memory we never knew we’d have. And sharing photos on social media with fellow neighborhood parents experiencing the same fun makes it all seem like we’re really, finally, a community – not just some bunch of houses that just happen to be located near each other.

I don’t think I’m the first person who feels like that.

We all want life to go back to the way it was, but it won’t. We’re changed by being apart and by being in this together. You’re not alone, dear friends. May that be one good thing for you today.