Letter to the Editor

Dear Editor,
The residents of Northwood should be grateful to the many people who are known as "essential workers," who continue to serve us during this phase of the worldwide coronavirus pandemic illness.
The town has been following national and state mandates as they are announced. The nursing home and assisted living facilities are on lock down, schools and churches closed temporarily, homes and apartment residents were encouraged to remain home unless their jobs are considered essential for the public's safety, health and survival.
What would we do without the grocery store? Our medical needs? Law enforcement? The fire department? Also important is the transportation system from distant places and drivers to bring to town supplies as needed.
The nation has experienced serious health epidemics in the past that were resolved, so we live with the hope that this too shall pass.
Vaccines were discovered to wipe out the severe diseases of the ones we have almost forgotten about.
I have done much research into local history and family genealogy, so I am aware of several periods of extreme distress in the area.
In about 1880, my husband's grandmother lost four young siblings to diphtheria in Silver Lake Township. They were buried in the dark of night when nobody else was around to avoid the spread of germs. A tall metal monument can be seen in the Sion Luther Church Cemetery, west of Northwood, with the names, birth and death dates and the inscription, "God gave, God took. God is loved."
During the same era, my maternal grandmother's first husband and two young daughters also died of diphtheria. They lived on a farm west of Joice and are buried in the Winnebago Lutheran Church Cemetery, south of Lake Mills.
Grandmother's neighbor also lost his wife and baby in childbirth, so the two decided to marry, so her two surviving sons would have a father and his three children have a mother. This union resulted in a good "his, hers and ours" family group, with my mother becoming the youngest in the last group of three children.
Many have never experienced living quarantined. While growing up on a farm home south of Lake Mills, my family was quarantined two times. Before I had started school, my grandmother and I came down with Scarlet Fever. I barely recall a doctor from Lake Mills visiting us and I can almost still feel the red, itchy rash that covered my body.
Again, in 1943, a public health official posted a quarantine sign on the door of our home during the polio epidemic when my three-year-old brother was diagnosed with the disabling disease and taken to the Sister Kenny Institute in Minneapolis. He recovered fairly well, except for foot problems that required special arch supports. He joined the National Guard in high school and even survived in the U.S. Army a short time until it was discovered he couldn't march very well.
How did a family function during quarantine and epidemics in these days? My father and the hired man spent their days working with Dad's diversified livestock operation and their spare time around a small wood burning heater in the pump house. At meal times, Mom met Dad at the door of the house with plates of food.
The food supply was no problem because most farm owners had a good supply of canned meats, fruits and vegetables in their cellar, as well as bins of potatoes and carrots. I'm sure the men left good supplies of wood on the back porches of homes for the cook stove in the kitchen.
Fast forward to 2020 when the coronavirus is giving us concerns today.
How can we be helpful if we are confined to our homes? Everyone, regardless of age, could do something. Pray to God for the safety of our essential workers and that a vaccine can be discovered for the malady. Maintain a calm disposition, trusting in God's promises that He will take care of us. Encourage a despondent friend with a telephone call and a cheerful message from time to time. Follow without complaining, about any government directions given to us. Thank any employed essential worker or unpaid volunteer who helps us in various ways.
This, too, shall pass. Let's keep the chain of safety from the coronavirus strong and not be a weak link that breaks that safety.
Elaine Bergan
Northwood