As the coronavirus started to sweep across the United States, I recall going to the grocery store, and there was a somber mood in the atmosphere. It was almost tangible as various shoppers walked through the aisles picking up canned goods, pasta, bleach and toilet paper, hoping the supplies we purchased would help us get through the unknown. Seeing how the virus was impacting other countries around the world, we knew we were waiting for the inevitable, knowing that many of us would suffer sickness and losses that would be incomprehensible.

As governors across the country started issuing stay-at-home orders, imploring Americans to stay home to help slow the spread of the virus, a mantra begins to spread almost as quickly as the virus: “We are all in this together.”

I watched countless videos of people staying home in their apartment complexes, throwing open their windows or standing on their balconies singing various songs in unison. I watched entire neighborhoods go outside and sing happy birthday to their neighbors. I watched us come together in ways I had never witnessed in America, and I was proud that who I believed people were at the core was finally shining through. Although it was sad that it took a pandemic to show us what we can be, I was determined to stand strong because we were all in this together, right?