Page 82 - South Mississippi Living - May, 2020

FINAL SAY
MICHAEL
SUNDERMAN
Publisher of South Mississippi Living magazine photo by Donn Hupp
Usually, Mary and I invite a community leader to write our Final Say. But then Mary Spain from the Beau Rivage sent
me this amazing photo of their resort with the word “HOPE” spelled out in the tower windows.
You know, every night we go to sleep we have no assurance for the next day, yet we still make our plans. That’s what we call hope. So when I saw this powerful image, I wanted to share my thoughts on “HOPE” for our beautiful Coastal Mississippi.
Hope is an interesting concept. Hope isn’t rational – it doesn’t come from our minds, it comes from our hearts and must be shared. Your mind might tell you there is no hope, but your heart will always keep on pushing you to move forward.
Over the past several weeks, I’ve seen countless examples of kindness in spite
of the circumstances. I’ve seen people helping friends and neighbors get to stores safely, people going above and beyond to fashion personal protective equipment
for healthcare workers. I’ve seen charities like the Bacot McCarty Foundation step up and issue checks to local nonprofits quickly to help them meet their growing needs, and I’ve seen genuine concern for the health and safety of others, even if that means closing stores to help keep us all safe.
I’ve witnessed businesses, both large and small, continue to pay their employees even as they experience historic hardships, giving their teams both security and hope that things will, in fact, get better. Among the first to step up was LuAnn Pappas and the owners of Scarlet Pearl, and I read
photo by James Edward Bates
82 | May 2020
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hundreds of amazing comments from her employees expressing their gratitude. So many other businesses have followed in their footsteps.
Our region has experienced hurricanes, floods, oil spills and recessions and we have always not only survived, but come out stronger. I have hope that this will be what we remember about the virus: that we stayed home to keep each other safe, we reached out to family and friends, we cared for others and we never gave up hope.
I’ll end by thanking all our local heroes, our healthcare providers and essential workers, who are fighting this battle for all of us. Thank you for putting yourselves in harm’s way to keep us safe, and for giving us hope.
“But I know, somehow, that only when it is dark enough can you se”e
the stars.
– Martin Luther King, Jr.