EDITOR’S
LETTER
14 GASPARILLA MAGAZINE May/June 2020
Marcy Shortuse
Editor-in-Chief
We have learned a lot about ourselves, and about
the human race, since the last time I wrote
an editor’s letter. This has been a whirlwind
experience of fearing an invisible death, of how many people
are so good at heart ... and how a few are not. We have
learned the importance of cleanliness, and how much we
never knew we appreciated about our lives. We never knew
how a roll of toilet paper or loaf of bread could be considered
a luxury. We never thought for a second how something as
normal as hugging a friend was a blessing.
More than once the words, “These are the times that try
men’s souls” wandered through my mind. Trying to keep a
level head, trying to put one foot in front of the other, all the
while waking up each morning, thinking this was all a dream ...
then realizing it wasn’t.
Friends, we had more than a few debates about whether or
not to put a story together about the “C” virus that has been
uttered in our ear hundreds of times each day. Many of you
know we also put out a weekly island newspaper, and since
this virus hit the ground running in the United States that’s pretty much all we’ve written about. So here,
in this sacred place, let us not. Maybe later, when the good stories of human kindness are brought forth
and we are all safe again. But not now. There’s nothing we can say that you don’t already know.
A friend of mine was in quarantine, of his own volition, as his lungs aren’t good. He lives in Boca
Grande, and twice a day he walked to the beach. On many of those little jaunts he did a live video on
social media, and one day he said something that stuck with me.
“There’s nobody on the beach,” he said. “But it doesn’t matter to
the ocean. The ocean doesn’t know anything is wrong.”
I hope by the time this letter is being read by our readers,
nothing will be as wrong as it is right now. I wish you all good
health, good times and a good memory. Because we need to
remember what happened here, and how lucky we really are.
Remember the little things, and how much they matter.