May 7, 2020 2 min read

Oh, boo-hoo. Poor Rep. Tim O’Neal is running out of patience. You know what patience is? Patience is what is needed to take care of an infant. Patience is what is needed to take care of an elderly person with dementia. Now, patience is what is needed to make sure our community stays alive. We’ve been blessed in Western Pennsylvania: The coronavirus numbers haven’t been staggering. But why? Because people here listened. Because people here are willing to be patient. All of us want things to get back to normal and for folks to be busy. But more than anything we want to keep our loved ones alive.

Mr. O’Neal, you aren’t in charge. The virus is in charge. This virus, which is unlike any of us have ever seen, is in charge. It’s going to come back in the fall and when it does so will its cousin, influenza. The time to make certain we have the ability to suppress the number of infected is now, and sadly for you, Mr. O’Neal, that now may stretch a few more months. I have a niece with COPD, a dear friend with early onset Alzheimer’s, a cousin with a kidney transplant, and a whole list of those I care about, and I’ll do whatever I can – even if it means doing nothing.

As for the people dancing around without masks, hugging their guns, demanding everything open – how would they have survived a wagon train across this country? How would they have managed the blitz during World War II? This has been a few months. It’s a tiny amount of time if it means we save lives. Just have a little patience.

Kitty Lagorio

Venetia