Assessing the past two years occupies much airspace at the moment.

What if I were to tell it as a story? A story of what I gained, versus what I lost. A reimagined narrative might begin with the words

Once upon a time, a woman who was betwixt and between, was told to stay home for safety’s sake. The doors of the schools, church, salon, dentist’s office, and gym were slammed shut. The church doors were actually closed gently, and windows of the church flung wide open to all.

The gym was bolted shut. So her family room became her exercise station. She found exercise and television mutually compatible. Her first phase of watching (really hearing) the Supreme Court with RBG as a sitting justice, was most intellectually stimulating, simply riveting business.

We cooked an entire Thanksgiving meal, and nobody came to partake in our holiday repast. We were a little hurt, but enjoyed our meal nevertheless.

Wearing a mask 😷 to choir rehearsal was not enjoyable, but it was necessary to protect people with fragile immune systems. It was much better than being intubated! Only vaccinated choristers were permitted to sing. We provided proof of vaccination. Medical history and status, normally private matters, were openly appraised. We live in an area where everyone we knew was vaccinated against Covid as soon as possible.

One of our sons worked in a large New York City Hospital. He was moved to the Covid wards before any vaccinations were made available. Patients died during most shifts. There weren’t enough KN95 masks. He rotated his five masks. He walked home in his scrubs against the tide of Black Lives Matter protesters. He empathized with their cause, but with 14 hour or longer shifts, only had the energy to walk home, remove his scrubs, and shower. These were bleak times.

We are all glad they are over. I’m not sure what we could have done differently.

I participated in a social justice book group, and we attended a Black Lives Matter protest in a mid-sized city nearby.

I sewed masks for family members, double layers of cotton. They might have been a step above the scarves and gaiters we wore loosely tied around our mouths and noses before science had made us more aware of what would actually provide protection. No one misses those thin, scratchy pale blue masks.

What did you do during the Covid pandemic to make it more tolerable? Or was it not at all tolerable for you?

A friend and I attended the opera at the Met in October 2021!

This post was drafted well over a year ago, in early 2022, and added to today. There is so much more to say.

Circe