Christine Smith: Hope for the New Year

As we approach the end of 2020, the general feeling is “good riddance.” What a year it has been, bringing unprecedented death to our nation. As of December 19, approximately 315,000 Americans had died from COVID-19 during this year. The number of COVID-19 deaths is staggering, almost incomprehensible. Bringing it closer to home, over 11,000 Massachusetts residents have died from COVID-19, with 60 of them coming from right here in Canton. The deaths span all ages, gender, religion, political affiliation and income. This virus does not discriminate.

Christine Smith

There are too many parents, children, siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles and friends missing from our celebrations. Throughout December, there were and will be empty seats at the lighting of the Hanukkah menorah, the observance of Winter Solstice, the Christmas table and the Kwanzaa celebration, just to name a few of the holidays observed by Americans during the month of December.

To put those numbers in perspective, in all of World War II, approximately 407,000 Americans died (a number we will likely surpass). The Korean conflict brought just over 36,000 American deaths, the Vietnam War, just over 58,000 American deaths. Nearly 2,500 Americans died in Afghanistan and just over 4,400 died in Iraq. On 9/11, we lost nearly 3,000 of our fellow Americans, a number that is our approximate daily death rate.

The only other medical comparison I have during my lifetime is the HIV-AIDS epidemic, which was essentially ignored by our federal government as well at its onset. Many of us lost loved ones from this epidemic as well. While no vaccine was ever developed, eventually medical science developed an antiretroviral treatment. Although not a cure, the treatment turned the HIV-AIDS diagnosis from a death sentence to a manageable chronic condition. As of earlier this year, the number of Americans who died from HIV-AIDS since the first cases were diagnosed in 1981 is estimated to be no less than 675,000 and is likely higher. With the U.S. daily death rates for COVID-19 somewhere around 3,000 deaths per day, we are inching towards that same number of deaths over a shorter period of time.

By now you must be thinking, why is the title of this column “Hope for the New Year?” Well, in spite of the staggering number of deaths, there is still reason for hope. Two vaccines that have proven to be highly effective are beginning to be dispensed. Our health care workers and elderly citizens are among the first to receive it. I have hope that this will prove to be an effective tool to combat the coronavirus once sufficient numbers of people have received it.

There are other signs of hope too. I have seen numerous residents in Canton stepping up to make donations of food, Christmas trees, gifts and more to those in need. Our own Canton Fire Department, aided by the Canton Police Department, gave Santa Claus a tour of the town on top of a fire truck, bringing joy and hope to young and old alike. In January, we will see new leadership in Washington, D.C., which I hope will take us towards treating all Americans with respect and which I hope will bring relief to those struggling from the economic effects brought on by the pandemic. These signs of hope are all around us and they will carry me through to the New Year, which hopefully will bring at least the beginning of the end to this deadly pandemic.

In the meantime, each one of us can be a sign of hope to our neighbors. You might wonder what you can do to make a difference given the enormity of what we face. I have some suggestions, which are no means exhaustive. If you have the means, consider a donation to the Canton Food Pantry. Offer to bring groceries to a neighbor in need. Thank a teacher. Be kind to the grocery store workers. Pay for the person behind you at the Dunks drive-through. Hold a door for someone. Wear a mask. Continue to social distance. Be patient — there is no gesture too small to show that you care about your fellow Canton citizens and to give hope to those around you.

I would like to wish a Happy Holidays and Happy New Year to everyone in Canton. May 2021 be a year of hope and may each one of us take a small step towards making that happen.

Christine Smith is a mother of three, an attorney and longtime Canton resident.

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Posted by Christine Smith on Dec 25 2020. Filed under Featured Content, Opinion. Both comments and pings are currently closed.