OBSERVER Photo U.S. Rep. Tom Reed says recent conversations between President Donald Trump and state Gov. Andrew Cuomo are a good sign.

After the United States was attacked on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, shell-shocked Americans began coming together to sort through their emotions and seek some healing after the dinner hour. On that horrific Tuesday evening, parks across Western New York communities were filled with those stunned by what they had witnessed only hours earlier.

One of the voices that evening in Barker Common was the Rev. Cynthia Wickwire Lundquist, who retired in December, of the First Presbyterian Church in Fredonia. She spoke of the overwhelming sense many who attended the gathering were facing.

“We are feeling grief, distress, confusion,” she said that evening. “Whom do we blame?”

More than 18 years later, there is an eerily similar sentiment.

One of the cruelest outcomes from this coronavirus crisis will be evident this weekend. We are not supposed to gather to help in the healing processs due to the potential for harm from COVID-19.

So we continue to stay away from our neighbors, friends and fellow worshipers.

This is not just restricted to area churches, but also to our schools, the community centers. Fundraising events for Fire Departments, Girl Scouts and major non-profits have been halted. Bars and restaurants are limited to take-out orders.

One of the wonders of Christmas Eve is the profound quiet that comes with it on that evening and the following Christmas day. Vehicles are not traveling on area roads. Stores and shops have closed.

Today, with the exception of grocery stores and other retail and small shops, all is calm.

Some, in the media and currently in leadership, are trying to place a time line on just how long this event will last. Why do that? How does this help any of us, especially those who are already dealing with anxiety and depression?

At this newspaper, we have tried this week to balance a bit of the lighter information while also documenting this serious and unprecedented happening. On Thursday, we introduced readers to a Westfield-area plumber who turned 90. On Wednesday, we focused on needed repairs to the Fredonia High Orange Bowl.

Though the virus is consuming our thoughts and lives today, it is temporary. Soon enough, we’ll be back to bickering over positions in the city of Dunkirk or celebrating Fredonia’s role in the “Small Business Revolution” series.

On Tuesday, U.S. Rep. Tom Reed, R-District 23, stopped by our offices. He spoke of his concern over the current situation, but kept politics and criticisms regarding how states and leaders were handling the crisis out of the afternoon discussion.

“I’m not going to judge anybody in real time,” he said. “That’s not appropriate. I’m not going to do that.”

He also spoke of a Southern Tier connection to China that may have brought the coronavirus back to our nation and state long ago. Reed noted that Corning Inc. has been building a $1.8 billion plant in Wuhan, China.

“(Corning) workers have been coming back and forth the last six months,” he noted. “They’re in a hot spot. … The world’s very connected.”

Though there are no confirmed cases through Thursday in this county, our region — and Reed’s district — has been touched. More positive tests will be coming — and some additional uncomforting edicts from state and national capitals.

Those decisions will bring praise and opposition to both Gov. Andrew Cuomo and President Donald Trump. In the end, open lines of communication for all high-ranking positions will benefit us all.

“I’m glad to see both (Cuomo and Trump) are taking it serious,” Reed commented. “Both will have criticism after the fact and that’s fair. But I just hope everyone … and I see signs, you see the president talking to the governor. That’s good. We need more of that. … Keep talking. Keep coming together.”

John D’Agostino is the OBSERVER publisher. Send comments to jdagostino@observertoday.com or call 366-3000, ext. 401.