A Winter Like No Other

(February 2021)

While temperatures are dropping and the snow is falling all around me, Coronavirus positivity rates are on the rise and Covid vaccines are still hard to find. We all know that winter can be a difficult time for older people and with the addition of a global pandemic, it can be truly tough to deal with.

As I take my morning dose of vitamin D and struggle with the seasonal doldrums, I keep repeating my mantra, “Spring is coming; Spring is coming.” While I am trying to maintain a positive and optimistic outlook, isolation is my biggest problem.

As I sit here in my house feeling sorry for the sad state of affairs that I find myself in, I reflect on the experiences of those who used their time wisely to overcome the immense struggles they found themselves engulfed in.

Nelson Mandela was arrested in 1962 for illegally leaving South Africa and sentenced to five years at Robben Island Prison. He was put on trial two years later on charges of sabotage and was subsequently sentenced to life in prison. Conditions at Robben Island were brutal. While there he was confined to a small cell without a bed or plumbing and was forced to do hard labor in a quarry. He could write and receive a letter once every six months and once a year he was allowed a visitor for 30 minutes. Yet his resolve remained unbroken and he led a movement of civil disobedience at the prison that coerced officials into drastically improving conditions.

Dr. Martin Luther King was jailed in 1963 for defying a court order and leading a march urging a boycott of white-owned stores. While jailed he wrote his famous “Letter From Birmingham Jail” in which he defended his strategy of nonviolent resistance to racism and oppression.

The stories of these two human rights giants help to put my miserable plight in perspective. It is from their inspiration that I draw my strength. As in that proverbial phrase, “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade”, optimism and a positive can-do attitude in the face of adversity will always win in the end.

Just as Nelson Mandela and Dr. King prevailed, I know we will too and someday look back on this as a winter like no other.