WHEN the coronavirus crisis of 2020 is part of history, when we look back in years to come, there will be lots to remember.
There will be huge sadness at far too many lives lost. There will, inevitably, be questions about the way governments and their leaders responded. And there will be great and justifiable pride about the rise of community spirit.
We will all have personal memories, but one image that will swiftly spring to mind for all of us will be the smile, the thumbs up, and the unfailing goodness of Captain (make that Colonel) Tom Moore.
Raising £30m is, of course, a magnificent achievement for a man who today celebrated his 100th birthday. The flypast, the England cricket cap, the sea of cards from strangers were all so well deserved.
But Colonel Tom’s impact goes much deeper than the money he raised. What he has shown us is the way forward. Impeccably polite, always grateful to others, always finding precisely the right words, and just very, very kind.
He is a symbol of the battle against a pandemic that has spread fear, heartbreak, and economic catastrophe.
Most of all, he’s an example of how we should try to be.