This too shall pass - A letter from Heritage Mississauga regarding COVID-19

First and foremost, we wish everyone well during these challenging times.
COVID-19 has certainly changed our daily lives and routines, affecting many of the services and resources that we rely on and take for granted.

But this too shall pass.

We will rally, a new-normal will emerge, and we will recall this moment, even generations from now, as a significant chapter in our ever evolving stories.

History shows us that we will emerge from this, weeks or months later, and perhaps with a new perspective about this abundant place we call home. Epidemics and pandemics have come before, scarring the land, its people, and the collective psyche. Memory fades, but earlier generations recall the moments in time that challenged them.

Looking to our past, epidemics of malaria came through this area between 1826 and 1830, a cholera pandemic swept through between 1826-37, and again from 1846-53, and yet again in 1865-66. Diphtheria, smallpox, typhus and tuberculosis all found their way into this place over time.

The Spanish flu pandemic of 1918-19 is still recalled, yet there is no longer living memory in our community from that time period. More recently, we can recall the SARS outbreak in 2002-04. There are stories to tell, memories to recall, from all these moments through time.

Collectively, people coped, soldiered on, learned, listened to medical advice, and emerged from it. The medical community, collectively and in times of adversity, made leaps in understanding how to combat illnesses. Medical treatments, vaccines and inoculations were all born out of times of mass health concerns.

At this time, amidst all of the closures and evolving response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we would like you, our fellow Mississauga citizens, to help us capture and record this moment in time.

How is COVID-19 affecting you and your family?
What are you doing during this unprecedented time?

Please share your stories, your pictures, your experiences with us so that we can record and preserve this moment in time.

After all, this too shall pass, and in time fade from our daily discourse, but together lets capture our story.
In the meantime, be safe, be well, and please follow medical advice.

And please share stories and pictures with us via: history@heritagemississauga.com or https://www.facebook.com/HeritageMississauga