Thank you. From the bottom of our hearts, we are so grateful for everything you have done during this time and what you will continue to do. When I Googled the word 'essential', it read, “absolutely necessary; extremely important”. What you are doing is just that. Your willingness to get up every day and serve, whether that be in hospitals, patrolling the streets, delivering packages, or in our grocery stores and warehouses, you are risking your health so that we can stay safe and happy. Despite the masks that you are wearing and hours and hours of lost sleep behind your eyes, you are still able to show that you are smiling and show your kindness. 

I was talking to a friend who is an intensive-care nurse in New York, the epicenter of the COVID crisis, and she sent me a message that reads the following: 

Being an intensive-care nurse in the epicenter of the COVID crisis means facing the unknown, surrounded by fear, anxiety, risks, wins, and losses. We are left with many questions on this contagion we know very little of. These are challenging times, but we could not be more grateful for all the support we are receiving from the community. From the meal and PPE donations to the 7pm salutes, the overwhelming appreciation for essential workers is not left unheard. Together, we will beat this invisible enemy.

Marie Razon, BSN, RN, CCRN
Medical Intensive Care Unit
Mount Sinai Hospital, New York

Every essential worker is working to glue us back together and they are doing so with a smile. The jobs that may have seemed trivial a couple months ago now include the people that are providing the resources we need to survive and stay happy. They have been doing so way before COVID and will continue to after [but hopefully they get a paid vacation in the near future]. THANK YOU!

Here is a video of the 7PM salute Marie mentions, taken by my brother in NYC.