Is love a plague? This question is a theme explored in Gabriel Garciá Márquez’s famous novel, Love in the Time of Cholera. I doubt many of us, in our most idealistic frame of mind, would choose to describe one of life’s deepest emotions this way. But from an outsider’s foreign gaze, the crazy things that others do when they care deeply for someone may indeed look like a sickness taking over.
These motifs and themes of love, sickness, and even death from Marquez’s novel seem more and more apropos in 2020, a year that brought us a new decade, as well as scenes I only thought I could find in futuristic, apocalyptic movies, where an unknown virus changes life and humankind as we know it. Instead, the corona virus’ threat feels all too real, an invisible enemy that lurks on every door handle and hangs in the air of grocery stores across the nation, keeping friends and foes alike six feet apart. In this brave new world, what does love look like? Human connection is potential contagion, and so we must physically disconnect with those we most desperately need and want to see. Yet in a way, it’s just as dangerous to completely isolate and risk the desolation that sets in when you’re on an island, segregated from the community that keeps you sane, and safe, and shows you that you’re loved. So we fill our days with FaceTime, and Skype, and Zoom, and phone calls and emails, and waves from the end of your driveway and smiles shared behind masks. All in an attempt to show love. To feel love. To feel connection, something our souls need for survival. Beyond just romantic love, it’s clear that we’re all sick with the yearning for acceptance and affection from others, it’s a malady that has entered our nervous systems and has been in our bloodstreams since birth.
And also here, in this strenuous, tenuous time, I have witnessed and felt the types of love that I think we all wish for, possibly even more so than during the hustle and bustle of normal life. Moments with my parents while we sort through old photos and forgotten memorabilia. More time to talk and confide with my sister, as we slow down our pace, and the daily hassles and commitments are all cancelled. Checkups from friends, who offer anything I might need, whether it be toilet paper, Lysol, or someone to talk to, cry to, vent to, laugh with. Heartfelt conversations with students and families I work with as we thank God we’re all still in good health and have roofs over our heads and food on our tables.
If love is a plague, then let us all become infected. These strange and uncertain times certainly make you realize that life is short, and the seemingly steady ground can shift beneath our feet when we least expect it; we never know when or where we’ll take our last breath, or when those we love may leave us. We must give our hearts and our devotion freely and fully to those we care for, baring our souls and leaving no words unsaid, loving openly with no regrets.
Jill Came Tumbling After 