[ad_1]
March 3, 2020: An important day in North Carolina.
It’s the day we learned of the first confirmed case of COVID-19 in our state, and the day life changed forever.
Since then, we have seen over 865,000 positive tests and over 11,000 people in our state have died from the virus.
Weird words suddenly became part of our daily lexicon: social distancing. Flatten the curve.
We put on masks for daily chores. Many stopped hugging family members who did not live in the same household.
Soon schools and church shrines emptied – as did our sidewalks, restaurants and streets. A certain loneliness sets in. And sadness.
Because before the end of March 2020, the people of our state would die.
Among the first North Carolinians declared by the virus was a Raleigh City employee, a man in his 30s named Adrian Grubbs.
“It all happened so quickly,” his wife told us. “A loving husband, a devoted father.”
North Carolina’s first COVID case was in Wake County
The first case in North Carolina was a man who lives in Wake County
At home that evening, Pastor Wolfgang Herz-Lane of the Church of the Lutheran Christ the King in Cary watched the news.
Our state’s patient zero was part of his herd.
“I get a phone call from my member saying, ‘Well, the guy they’re talking about on the news – that’s me,’ Herz-Lane said.
“Of course we talked about it a bit and we prayed together,” he said.
He says some aspects of life will never return to normal.
“I am convinced that this pandemic has changed things for good,” he said.
And here we are a year later: our faces still masked, a pastor’s pews still empty.
Its services are always virtual.
“From that first day, we had to pivot overnight and stopped the worship services in person,” he said.
Pastor Wolfgang, as he’s known, hopes to bring back in-person services in a few months, but the streaming will remain.
He thinks the pandemic has brought people together.
“In a spiritual sense and in a community sense, we really got closer, and we stayed in closer contact through Zoom meetings and live worship,” he said.
The man he prayed for on the phone a year ago has fully recovered. He wishes to remain anonymous.
Now, as another spring begins, a pastor sees a season of good news.
He received his COVID vaccination a few weeks ago.
What will reserve this year?
[ad_2]
Source link