8 P.M. Applause for Spain

By Renée Tisserand, Madrid, Spain

I was upstairs closing the bedroom shutters when I first heard the sound. What was it?

I ran downstairs to find my husband and the boys standing at the open front door. The clapping was loud and rhythmic. They joined in.

I stepped outside on the front terrace. One couldn’t help but feel the magic in the air. It was thick and palpable. I joined in and began clapping my hands together in applause.

“They are clapping for the doctors and nurses in Spain who are fighting the virus,” Vincent explained to me. “I saw it in the Spanish newspaper today.”

As we stood there on our front porch, the Spanish national anthem belted out triumphantly from a distant neighbor’s house. It was loud– full of pride.

We clapped together. We clapped in rhythm. As more and more neighbors stepped outside their homes into the cool evening air, we all waved and greeted each other from afar.

It was if we were all saying to each other, “We will get through this. Spain will get through this. We will win this battle—together.”

Tears welled up in my eyes and began to slowly stream down my cheeks. I looked at my family who stood next to me, applauding and cheering on the doctors and nurses who battle on the frontlines.

Goose bumps ran through my entire body. It was powerful . . . magical.

“We are witnessing a historical moment,” I leaned over and whispered to my husband.

“Yes, we are,” he answered quietly.

Every night at 8 p.m., it is the same ritual around the country.

I don’t know if other countries are doing this, but what if applause, praise, hope, joy, and faith began to erupt around the globe?

What if we all banned together and said, “We will get through this. The world will get through this. We will win this battle– together.”

Maybe it can start with you. Maybe you can begin clapping your hands together in belief. Today. Tonight. At 8 p.m.

I’ll be there. I’ll join you. I’ll clap with you. I’ll believe with you.