In the movie The Princess Bride, there is a scene where two friends, Inigo and Fezzik, take a third friend, Wesley, to see Miracle Max. Wesley had been killed by the evil Prince Humperdinck and Inigo and Fezzik wanted to see if Max could help him.
Max agrees to have a look and they lay Wesley on a table.

Max holds up one of Wesley’s arms, and when he lets go, it falls to the table with a thud.
Max turns to the friends and says “I’ve seen worse”

In light of the recent Corona Pandemic and everything that is happening to us as a community and country, might I say. “We’ve seen worse”

Now don’t get me wrong, I am not taking this lightly and know it is a major health concern and it is going to affect all of us in one way or another. Some of our fellow citizens are sick, more will get sick and many will die.

It’s a big deal and it needs to be taken very seriously.
But,

We as a country have been through bigger badder deals, and we are still here.
Historically, as a nation here are a few of the big deals we have dealt with.

The Civil War, probably the worst thing we as a nation ever faced. 620,000 soldiers died and the country was almost torn in two. There are still scars, but we are the United States today.

World War One and the Spanish Flu that followed. Historians tell us that was the last time we faced such a health crisis, yet here we are.

Some of our parents, grandparents and neighbors remember the Great Depression and all that we faced and lost.

Then World War Two, when the greatest generation saved the world and rebuilt our country.

The Vietnam War saw the death of 58,000, mostly young American soldiers and again divided the county. Again, there are scars, but we have faced them and tried to do right by those who came home but still suffered.

All of these events touched our entire nation, but hundreds of other tragedies have hit individual communities, these communities have also continued to move forward.
Hurricanes, tornados, floods, fires. Disasters that have removed towns from the map, but not broken the people that call those towns home. They have come back better.
San Francisco, Galveston, Joplin, New Orleans, Paradise. All destroyed, all back or on their way back.

As a side note, these towns should remind us that we have it pretty good in Western NY. Sure, we get an ice storm every 10 or 20 years, that takes out the cable and electricity, but our homes are still there. And the big snow storm that makes us have to stay home and eat, yeah that’s tuff.

I guess what I’m trying to say is yes, things are not good. The corona virus is a very bad thing, and we all need to take it seriously.

But, if we use common sense, do the things we should, listen to the doctors, we will get through this.

Yes, some of us will get sick, and some of us might die, but let’s not focus on that and fighting over toilet paper. Let’s focus on the strength of our country and home town and what unites us.

Let’s look out for each other, help our neighbors, and people we don’t know but might need a hand
.
So, in the Princess Bride, it turns out Wesley was only mostly dead, which means slightly alive. Max was able to give them a miracle pill, they stormed the castle and saved the Princess.

We as a country, a community, a people, are very much alive. We will get thought this, and come out better on the other end.

As Red Green would say, “I’m pulling for you, we’re all in this together”