My favorite novel is Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, set in Colombia and interjecting human passion into the time when the disease cholera swept the nation. In the novel, the physician Urbino eradicates cholera in the town, involving himself and others in a myriad of love’s forms. While some critics say the novel is about the enduring power of love, Garcia Marquez is quoted as saying “you have to be careful not to fall into my trap.”
In our time, true love is under attack with strict quarantine orders. Local police report a strong uptick in the number of domestic violence calls, including a woman’s attempt to murder her mother. Spiritual, emotional, spatial, and financial issues strain at the fabric of our society. Yet, love filters through the cracks. Like God is here. Humanity responds. Neighbors say they’re doing okay, and some couples are bearing up under it as if brighter days are coming.
Here in our cottage not too far from the bay, we struggle to give each other grace and to persist with our own pre-crisis life purposes, career, dreams. . . and to cook a creative nightly meal we can enjoy together to take the edge off the day. We pray for smoother times. . . for each other. . . to love deeper. Our family consists of: a) an orthodontist daily donning helmet, forehead thermometer, gloves, uniform, and immunity solution to caringly tweak patients’ smiles, b) one cheerful 24 year-old son fighting Hodgkin’s lymphoma with a carpool of brave people bridging two generations driving him to chemo, c) two lovebirds, real estate financier 32 year-old son and fiancé, pondering whether to reschedule a dream summer wedding, and d) yours truly, former prof preparing to virtually teach writing students and attempting to launch a novel into Young Adult lit.
Our church pastor YouTubes us helpful community conversations mixed in with the standard bill of fare of sermons— we are fed. Eats, faith, health, zoom. 6 feet social distancing talks and walks. Drive-by birthday party. Tail-gate parking lot dinner. Touching a little but connecting a lot. A complicated stranger-than-fiction shelter-in-place under a streaky coastal California sky.
