The heroes behind the masks

Existential fear is a strange thing. You feel you may never embrace the people you love again, never have the chance to apologize about any bridges you may have burned without good reason, never again set eyes on your favorite Aegean island chapel and see the Greek flag waving. You are gripped by an inexplicable anguish that you will never again see things that you had once barely noticed. Even the old-style lampposts flanking Vassilissis Sofias Avenue in central Athens seem romantic from the back window of an ambulance.

I have done battle with the virus. I have pulled through and may yet have the joy of being on the list of positive statistics, among those who recovered from Covid-19. I do not like writing about myself, nor am I partial to melodrama, but I nevertheless feel the need for us all to send a message of hope to our fellow countrymen and women going through a...