Ebola is an International Crisis and I’m Okay With That

The current Ebola epidemic has this nation scared. Television pundits cry out for someone to do something to stop this crisis. We can no longer ignore this issue and we cannot deny that the spread of the disease must be stopped.

However, we also cannot deny that since this story gained traction in the news, my relationship with my father has never been better.

Him and I have never really seen eye to eye. He likes sports; I like video games. He likes dogs; I like cats. His least favorite part of the circus is the clowns, while I’ll never be able to get behind the bearded lady. My point is we couldn’t be more different.  But when the news about Ebola started coming out, my dad and I both realized we couldn’t get enough of it. I remember the day we were sitting on the couch in silence as we watched the news of two Americans infected with Ebola. Then he said something I’ll never forget, he said “well hey, you don’t see that every day.”

“Yeah,” I said, “you really don’t.” And just like that we knew we had found a common interest. Finally, no more awkward dinner conversations about “how our day went” and “yes it was pretty rainy out.” It was all Ebola all the time for us. You might say it had infected our conversations.

During the day while he’s at work and I’m at school we send each other the latest articles. After looking at “Why Ebola is such a bummer explained in Gifs from The Office” my Dad sent me that text we all want to hear from our father “lol.” We shared a hearty brief chuckle at the memory of it later on. Is this what his approval feels like? I’d say this was definitely worth waiting for.

So yeah obviously we need to take Ebola seriously and do our part as a country to stop the spread. As long as it involves us doing something super cool like when we revealed we had a secret serum that could cure a person. That was badass. My Dad and I may have high fived after that. You know cause we’re best friends now and all. But you’ll never guess what happened next. After a few minutes of pondering, he stared straight ahead and said, “You know, if you had Ebola I’d do my best to get that serum for you.” We sat in silence for the rest of the night. This, my friends, is the power of a father’s love.

So fix the economy, end world hunger, stop all wars, but maybe we could slow it down on stopping this whole Ebola thing right this second. Because sometimes you have to do what’s best for your family. What’s best for my family. Regardless of who we are, I am sure that we all hope this comes to an end at some point and that the next health crisis can unite my father and I once again. Or at the very least improve my relationship with my girlfriend.

-JS ’16