Opelousas Mayor Julius Alsandor knows first-hand that Covid-19 simply doesn’t care.
“This virus does not discriminate, does not care who you are, doesn’t care if you’re rich or you’re poor, says Alsandor, “and whatever you can do, well, I do not wish this upon anyone.”
Collectively, the last six weeks has been a scary journey for Alsandor. Six weeks ago, he tested positive for Covid-19, and just last week he returned to the office for the first time. But he did so with a renewed perspective on this thing we call ‘life’.
“It put me back on my knees ,” Alsandor explained. “It made me realize how important life is, family, and not taking life truly for granted. And prayers. Prayers helped me through this, without a doubt.”
The positive Covid test came in late July--- and the first few days for Alsandor were tough, incredibly tough. “The next four or five days was cradle up in a bed, didn’t have any strength, couldn’t eat, didn’t want to eat.”
Alsandor thought of his family--- both immediate and his extended members at City Hall---and he prayed, ‘please don’t let anything happen to them’.
“It really truly scared me,” he recalls. “Did I do something to them? Because then, you start to look at yourself as the blame if something else occurs or any other member gets sick.”
But all is well. No family members, no co-workers became sick. And last Monday--- 11 days ago--- Julius Alsandor actively resumed the role as mayor of Opelousas. But the man who was once an admitted workaholic did so with the realization that time… is indeed… fleeting.
“We can’t fix everything today,” he says reflectively. “And it’s time for me to go home and still enjoy what we all must do. And that’s life.”
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