If history taught us one thing, it’s that it does repeat itself … just with different versions, I think.
I am just glad that if history repeats itself in today’s day and age, we at least live in the modern age. This is not the first time the world has experienced a devastating pandemic like the coronavirus. The Spanish flu, also known as the 1918 flu pandemic, was unusually deadly. Lasting from January 1918 to December 1920, it infected 500 million people – about a quarter of the world’s population at the time.
Can you imagine being in lockdown in the year 1918? What on Earth would we have done to keep ourselves busy? In that time there were no internet, no television and also most probably no popular board-games.
Yes, life was simpler, and there were many other ways people kept themselves busy, but also remember, there were no or very few proper healthcare facilities too.
To compare the two pandemics would be stupid, but perhaps we can just take some perspective from it to prove that we will learn from history.
But here is something else that might give a different perspective. Only a handful of people who were born during that period, or more specifically 1918, are still alive. Of course they would have been very young and most probably would not remember it.
My husband’s grandfather was born in that year. He was one of the youngest of 13 siblings and they all survived without modern technology.
Another quite famous person who was born in 1918, was of course Nelson Mandela. He too had nine siblings.
Through extreme measures and tremendous challenges, greatness arose. My husband’s grandfather was a great man to his family, and so was Tata Madiba to the world.
We live in scary times, but luckily history also shows us how we are going to survive. And to top it all, many great things are to come from it.
Twenty years from now, children born in 2020 will learn about the devastating coronavirus of the year they were born in.
Let’s hope they learn some valuable lessons from this history in the making.
Until next week, take care of yourself and your family, Krugersdorp.
