Love in the time of corona

By Koralia Timotheou

At the turn of the 20th century, Florentino Ariza and Fermina Daza fell in love. It was a difficult time to be in love. South America was plagued by civil war and cholera. Life was uncertain. Roughly 50,000 people died in the Americas. Fermina Daza had a change of heart and married Dr. Juvenal Urbino instead.

“Love in the time of cholera”* is much more than a love story. It is a manifesto of hope, persistence, forgiveness, care and sensitivity.  A statement that life pushes ahead and we’d better keep up with it or it will leave us miserably behind.

Life goes on

I am not saying go get sick or be reckless. As strong as one may feel, you never know how a new virus may perform or what chain reactions may be triggered by involuntarily infecting others. Everyone has their vulnerabilities. Some more than others. It is therefore imperative to stay as safe as possible for everybody’s benefit.

Measures help

Dr. Urbino is determined to save his city from the cholera epidemic and applies strict sanitation rules.

Eventually the epidemic is contained. Not completely eliminated but somewhat controlled. 

Protective and preventive measures never hurt anyone. Using common sense and following basic hygiene instructions are good life-long companions anyway.

This too shall pass and love never dies

It may be hard and there may be casualties but for better or for worse, life goes on, no matter what.

It is not our job to blame and point our finger at people but rather to be supportive and constructive. To take care of ourselves and of others. To be patient. To love and care for our fellow citizens enough so as not to expose them to unnecessary danger but also not to make them feel unwanted, guilty and unloved.

Late in life, Dr. Urbino, having survived so many crises, dies in a silly accident. Fermina and Florentino, now in their 70s, after a lifetime of falling and rising, winning and losing, enjoying and suffering, being together and apart, slowly form a new relationship that escalates from friendship to a newfound love.

While stranded on the Magdalena River, in what seems to be a new cholera outbreak, they decide to spend their remaining years together.

This shall pass as so many other disasters have in the past and will in the future.

May we be healthy, may we be safe, may we be strong, may we be loved.

www.koraliatimotheou.com, Love in the time of cholera, Gabriel Garcia Marquez