I have seen a lot in my 70 years on this Earth, but to be candid, nothing so far in my life experience has equipped me for what we’re going through at this moment.

I am not frightened for my own health, although I do harbor plenty of dread for my family. This coronavirus pandemic is getting closer and closer with each passing hour.

We’re all taking necessary precaution. We’re practicing the “social distancing” that’s become so common at this time. Our local governments are telling us to “shelter in place.” We’ll do what we’re told.

I don’t know what the immediate future holds. However, I take considerable comfort and solace with this knowledge: This crisis won’t last forever.

Moreover, I also take comfort in understanding that what we’re all going through now pales in comparison to what others over the arc of history have experienced. My wife reminded me of something we saw during a trip we took to Europe in 2016.

We rode the train from Nuremberg, Germany to Amsterdam, The Netherlands. A friend greeted us at the train station and took us to his home near The Hague. The next day we returned to Amsterdam to tour a museum.

It was the home where Anne Frank once lived. It was there that we learned in detail about the pure and unadulterated horror Anne Frank and her family experienced during World War II. Shelter in place? Hah! They were hostages in their own home. Nazi occupiers were looking for Jewish citizens. When they found them they took them into captivity and hauled them off to death camps.

Anne Frank and her family were outed eventually. The SS broke in, they took the young girl and her family into custody. Anne Frank died at age 15, after chronicling the horror she endured.

We’re living a bit uncomfortably. The coronavirus pandemic will pass eventually. Our government is asking us to do certain things. It is asking to avoid doing other certain things.

I’ve never lived through anything quite like this. The feel-good phrase of the day is “We’re in this together.” Yes. We are.

We also will pass through it together.