When this is over
I want to head over to Jones Beach and take a walk on the boardwalk, and not worry about the COVID-19 test center at the West End parking lot.
I want to go to a Long Island Ducks game, and before I buy my hot dog and take my seat, I want to visit the table sponsored by the local hospital, and get some free Bandaids, Kleenex and Purell.
I want to sit in the diner and read the entire menu before I order my usual hamburger.
But most of all, I want to walk into a supermarket or drugstore and buy everything on my list from shelves that haven’t been stripped bare.
I don’t need anything special. I just want my life back.
And no, I am not OK.
My cousin is in the hospital. His kids can’t even visit him, but his son tells me he’s a fighter and the doctor says he’s improving.
My daughter Jen’s best friend from high school is a pediatrician now. She’s working in a hospital in Westchester. Her mother is so worried because of the lack of protective gear.
I am afraid for Jen, she lives with her boyfriend, who works in a hospital.
Becca has finished self quarantine but is now afraid to leave her apartment.
My sister’s test came back negative, thank G-d. She was afraid she brought the virus home to our mother. Mom is 87 and has several underlying conditions. That’s why I’m at Drew’s for the duration.
And a good thing, too. Drew has been sick all weekend. He has a virus, but not “the virus”. Or, at least I think it wasn’t “the virus”. I scored some Tylenol in the second drugstore I visited, and that brought his fever down. He wasn’t sick enough to call the doctor, so unless someone else in this house gets sick, we will never know what he had.
I just want my life back.
I want to go to a Long Island Ducks game, and before I buy my hot dog and take my seat, I want to visit the table sponsored by the local hospital, and get some free Bandaids, Kleenex and Purell.
I want to sit in the diner and read the entire menu before I order my usual hamburger.
But most of all, I want to walk into a supermarket or drugstore and buy everything on my list from shelves that haven’t been stripped bare.
I don’t need anything special. I just want my life back.
And no, I am not OK.
My cousin is in the hospital. His kids can’t even visit him, but his son tells me he’s a fighter and the doctor says he’s improving.
My daughter Jen’s best friend from high school is a pediatrician now. She’s working in a hospital in Westchester. Her mother is so worried because of the lack of protective gear.
I am afraid for Jen, she lives with her boyfriend, who works in a hospital.
Becca has finished self quarantine but is now afraid to leave her apartment.
My sister’s test came back negative, thank G-d. She was afraid she brought the virus home to our mother. Mom is 87 and has several underlying conditions. That’s why I’m at Drew’s for the duration.
And a good thing, too. Drew has been sick all weekend. He has a virus, but not “the virus”. Or, at least I think it wasn’t “the virus”. I scored some Tylenol in the second drugstore I visited, and that brought his fever down. He wasn’t sick enough to call the doctor, so unless someone else in this house gets sick, we will never know what he had.
I just want my life back.
I think we are all in agreement; want our lives back, smiles.
ReplyDeleteI hear you. I used to think grocery shopping was a chore. Not any more. I would love to be able to go to the store and see the shelves as full as they used to be.
ReplyDeleteOur 50-year-old niece is responsible for ventilators at a major hospital in Cleveland. She has to go in to work every day and she is now trying to use her engineering background to convert anesthesia equipment into ventilators because of the shortage.
ReplyDeleteyes, you join a long list who want normal life back again! Crazy times.
ReplyDeleteYes I know I'm not unique. I'm just stressed.
ReplyDeleteI read this earlier, and don't know why I didn't comment at first. We are all worried and stressed, and you have a long list of worries. My son works in a machine shop that is considered essential (so he still has a job, but I worry for him as he can't work from home) I wonder if his shop will be drawn into the fight in some way. Alana ramblinwitham.blogspot.com
ReplyDeleteYes. Agreed. What we can do now is to document, document, document. This is how history will be able to remember what it is we all went through. And we can look back (hopefully!) and remember these times as times we never want to live through again.
ReplyDeleteLiz is right. One hundred years from now, when this period is taught in school, the things we blog about, the things we post of Facebook, will be educational material.
ReplyDeleteOh I hear you! I feel the same way! I had to finally admit today that I am pretty depressed. Thankfully I have my pups, and they calm me. My husband does not. We will get through this.
ReplyDelete