This is Sheriff Peanut Butter Brickle. It’s been a hard few weeks, hasn’t it?

I can tell by the look on persons’ faces that things are stressful. There are many things to worry about. There are many, many people to worry about.

Sometimes it’s easy to hear numbers and news and have all of the bad run together. You hear how many are sick or have passed away lately due to the Virus Monster. And you hear the numbers. Maybe they sound like just numbers. It’s easy to let that happen. To not realize that each number, every single number is a person gone.

A person who was someone’s daughter. Son. Mother. Father. Grandparent. Dog parent. Each number is a ray of sunshine not shining anymore. Yes. Those numbers are real people. And not just people from one country. But our whole world.

It’s hard to grasp when we will be able to go back to seeing ones we love again. Just yesterday, we dropped off food at Gandma and Gamdpa’s house. And we waved.

We couldn’t stay. We could only wave from afar. Digby and I had a hard time understanding why. Because sometimes, we forget. And maybe, just maybe, that’s a good thing.

Everyone wants to forget. But we can’t right now. We have to follow directions. Something that Digby and I normally don’t like to do. But we are.

We don’t want you to dwell on sadness when you hear the numbers. But we do want to give recognition. Recognition that every life lost, no matter the cause, is someone who was loved. None of us know what tomorrow brings. In fact, we may not want to. Girl Person told us right now, it’s one day at a time. One life at a time fades away each day, no matter how many they total. Every life counts. No matter how many times it has happened.

Think about it this way. Even though we get many meals throughout our lifetime, do you notice when you miss one? You sure do. Now is the time to let everyone know you love them and value them. Say what you need to. Be kind.

And know we love you. Very much. We want your rays of sunshiney with us for a long time. Be safe.

–Sheriff Peanut Butter Brickle