Saving Lives, But Missing Special Moments

By Derek Timm, Mayor, Scotts Valley

One of my highlights this past week was volunteering at the Dignity Health Vaccination Clinic. It was heartening to see so many seniors receiving their second dose of the vaccine and so many of our teachers receiving their first dose. Each shot bringing our community one step closer to normalcy.

An older gentleman turned to me as he was leaving, a smile beaming, “Thank you,” he said, “I hope you know, you are all saving lives today. Some of us here today, would not have survived if we had gotten sick. You are saving lives.”

I had not thought about it like that, and it impacted me in a way I had not expected. It made me even more grateful to be part of the effort.

While I am still waiting for my name to come up on the list, I know the vaccines are going to those who need them most — our health care workers, first responders, and senior citizens.

Additionally, each shot for our teachers brings us closer to getting our children back in the classroom, which is critical not only for our children’s mental and emotional health, but for parents that have had to shoulder the challenges of providing childcare while trying to work from home.

I recently learned that the challenges of children being out of school have hit working mothers particularly hard. Over 5.3 million women have left the workforce since the pandemic began. Schools reopening will not reverse this challenge overnight but will certainly be a major step forward.

Another highlight was to see my children light up when they heard the news that they would be able to return to team sports. Of course, there are distancing rules and masks, but they can get active again — turn off a screen — and interact with friends. Kids are now happy to turn off a screen and be outside — a tiny silver lining to parents everywhere.

I wish it were all roses, however, it continues to be hard to watch my high school senior, as she misses each rite of passage.

Her resilience has been incredible to watch, but we know there is pain in the sacrifice.

We have all felt the pain of sacrifice this past year, but it is harder to watch those missing special moments — weddings, graduations, and life celebrations. We must acknowledge these losses and grieve them together. Internally, I know these sacrifices build strength. I remind myself that despite the challenges, this too will pass.

Our progress in overcoming the pandemic is apparent in the new numbers released this week. In the last two months, Santa Cruz County has dropped from nearly 4,000 active cases to under 450- with numbers continuing to drop each day.

You can feel the optimism with businesses beginning to reopen. We will hopefully move up a tier- from Purple to Red- in the next two weeks if these trends continue as expected.

Thanks again to all our community members for making sacrifices that have helped get us to this point. Looking forward to positive days ahead.

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Derek Timm is mayor of Scotts Valley. To reach him, email dtimm@scottsvalley.org or call 831-239-9203.