Ordinarily, an editorial like this would make me feel worse, but it actually made me feel better. The cure we are seeking is rooted in the truth, and someone who can give us unvarnished versions of it is part of the solution. If the coroner down in Albany, Georgia can say what he’s seeing without sugarcoating it, so can anybody else. It gave me comfort to see someone just lay it out and explain why no one should be going to get a haircut or a tattoo in Georgia, no matter what the governor might have to say about it.

I’m always driving, going back-and-forth between nursing homes, the hospital, and the morgue. All these roads should be empty if you ask me. But now I see people out running errands, rushing back into their lives, and it’s like: “Why? What reason could possibly be good enough?” Sometimes, I think about stopping and showing them one of the empty body bags I have in the trunk. “You might end up here. Is that worth it for a haircut or a hamburger?”

…I’ve lived here my whole life. At least 30 of these victims are people I knew by name or considered friends. Six of our preachers have died. Probably at least seven or eight more from church. Two neighbors. Three school friends. The probate judge who had the office next to mine at the courthouse. These are my contemporaries. I’m 62. We’ve had 36 people here die in their 60s, and at least a dozen more who were younger than that.

I try not to count down the days or make projections about when all of this is going to be over. The truth is, it’s starting to become routine. I always stand six feet away from the families. I always wear my space suit whenever I’m anywhere near a body. I always take off my clothes and have my wife spray me down with Lysol as soon as I get home. The chamber of commerce has gone ahead and given me a tractor trailer with shelves to store extra bodies, which I might need depending on how reopening goes and how many more cases we get.

The phone calls used to wake me up at all hours of the night. Now, I’m usually up waiting.

I wish the truth held better news. It does not. Stay at home.