Galena is a resilient community.
The last week has been a cascading chain-reaction of events being postponed or outright cancelled; people panicking and stocking up on toilet tissue; school called off until March 30; and me wondering exactly how many canned goods is appropriate for the coming weeks.
Through it all, I’ve watched as my daughter’s trip to march in the St. Patrick’s Day parade in Chicago get shut down; their band trip to New York postponed; and two different school plays hover in limbo. It’s tough, to share in your kid’s uncertainty about whether or not their hard work will ever be seen by an audience.
It’s a situation all parents of school-age students find themselves in, the pain of not seeing the fruits of their kid’s work. Scholastic bowl students were positioned to go far. Athletes who shine at track, softball and baseball will not have that opportunity this school year. Songs and lines have been rehearsed, but may never be performed for an audience.
I don’t like not knowing. I suspect the kids like it even less. It particularly burns when your oldest daughter is a senior, and this was her first lead role.
I know I’m not alone. I know there are many other parents of seniors, looking forward to these milestones with their children. It’s tough, to figure out what to say to your kids. Just what do you say, to three teenage daughters, when you’re just as blind as they are?
So, like everyone else, we stock up. We made a number of trips to the Pig and Walmart. Each time, I saw community members and other parents calmly stocking up, no one quite certain what the future held.
That uncertainty manifested itself on a national scale this week, as shelves went empty throughout many stores.
Locally, the feeling seems to be the same: this community is preparing for uncertain times.
It’s frustrating, from a parent’s perspective, to not know with any certainty what’s going to happen in the next month.
And it’s not just the next month. In addition to cancelled April events, this uncertainty-creep is starting to ooze into early summer. May and June events are already cancelled or postponed.
Jay Dickerson is the advertising manager of the Gazette. Were Doug Adams still alive, he’d suggest we “Don’t panic.” jdickerson@galgazette.com