Professors Reflect on COVID-19: Dr. Kimberly Sasser, English

Kimberly Sasser on July 30, 2020

My grandmother used to serve my siblings and me Hostess Twinkies, always halved. It's not because she didn't have a whole Twinkie to give. As I later realized, her halved Twinkies were a remnant of her experience of the Great Depression. I will never know what that experience was like, but I was impacted by my grandmother's frugality. I don't think future generations will be affected by Covid-19 like we've been, those of us who will have lived through this event. Still, maybe they can be impacted indirectly, like I was by my grandmother. I hope later generations will recognize in us a concern for the 20%, the small margin of the population who were most at risk for serious outcomes of the disease. I hope they see in us a willingness to adapt, quickly. I hope they see a deep valuing of face-to-face community, something I for one have come to value more than ever. May my granddaughter remember me by these characteristics—this will be one of my Covid-19 prayers.