March 3, 2020: a significant day in North Carolina.
It’s the day we heard about the first confirmed COVID-19 case in our state, and life has changed forever.
Since then, we have seen more than 865,000 positive tests and more than 11,000 people in our state have died of the virus.
Strange words suddenly became part of our daily lexicon: Social detachment. Flatten the curve.
We wear masks for daily tasks. Many stopped hugging family members who did not live in the same house.
Soon, schools and church shrines were emptied – as were our sidewalks, restaurants and streets. A certain loneliness was established. And sadness.
Because before the end of March 2020, people in our state would be dying.
Among the first North Carolinians the virus claimed was an employee from the city of Raleigh, a man in his 30s named Adrian Grubbs.
“It all happened so fast,” his wife told us then. “A loving husband, a dedicated father.”
North Carolina’s first COVID case was in Wake County
The first case in North Carolina was a man who lives in Wake County
At home that night, Pastor Wolfgang Herz-Lane of the Lutheran Church Christ the King in Cary watched the news.
Our state’s zero patient was among his flock.
“I get a call from my member saying, ‘well, the guy they’re talking about on the news – it’s me,'” said Herz-Lane.
“Of course, we talked a little about it and prayed together,” he said.
He says that some aspects of life will never return to normal.
“I am convinced that this pandemic has changed things forever,” he said.
And here we are, a year later: Our faces still masked, a pastor’s benches still empty.
Their services are still virtual.
“From that first day, we had to turn around at night and interrupt personal services,” he said.
Pastor Wolfgang, as he is known, hopes to bring back face-to-face services in a few months, but the broadcast will remain.
He believes that the pandemic has brought people together.
“In a spiritual and community sense, we really got together and kept in close contact through Zoom meetings and live worship,” he said.
The man he prayed for on the phone a year ago has fully recovered. He wants to remain anonymous.
Now, when another spring begins, the pastor sees a season of good news.
He received the vaccine against COVID a few weeks ago.
What will happen this year?