Coronavirus and Us

Far too often at our age when something happens big or small, we have a story of something similiar taking place in the past.  But this is not really true this time.   Maybe just to a small extent when there were snowfall warnings in North Carolina and there would be a run on beer, milk, and bread at the local groceries.  But this Covid 19 threat is really unprecendented for us.

The first time it affected me personally was Tuesday when the Grace Notes Choir was cancelled for the month.  Grace Notes is composed of a vulnerable population of older folks like me and we sit next to each other so we don't have much "social distance"--a new phrase in our vocabulary that is becoming very familiar.

Then the next day it was the Nassau Presbyterian Church choir rehearsals cancelled with the hope that we could still do our Holy Week music.   Our director said we had made excellent progress on music thus far (including  The Messiah) and we could always substitute some easier anthems.

From there it snowballed.  All church functions were cancelled.   Our older grandchildren are home for spring break and not going back to their colleges.  Dan, Alexandra, and Susan are working from home.  Jeff is still going into the office but thinking about what unclassified material he could work on from home if needed.   Laura's children are home for two weeks at least and she is making plans to set up home schooling routines. Henry's baptism is postponed.

And all college and professional sports are being cancelled.  No sports on TV.  That made for a quiet evening of reading.   We will miss the entertainment but we are also thinking of the great economic impact this has for hotels, restaurants, stadium vendors, etc.

Jim is glad to be retired and not having to learn how to do online teaching.  He gets updates from Notre Dame with information on how to prepare for this big change. 

We did our Saturday shop this morning (Friday) in order to avoid a larger crowd and maybe emptier shelves.   It wasn't bad.  There were shortages of organic vegetables, frozen vegetables and Lysol--none of which I was buying.  People are hoarding toilet paper and sanitary wipes.   Earlier this week the Dollar Tree cashier told me that folks were buying 40-50 hand sanitizers  at a time and she had no authority to stop them.    I did not buy anything that we would not have bought regularly except a dozen eggs and a box of Cheerios both on sale--and they will last and could keep us from getting hungry.

I feel concerned about Jim's having to go to Urology Care Alliance daily for radiation.  I also feel concerned about grandson Michael who has occasional bouts of asthma.   And for little Henry--not even three months old.   And I guess Jim and I are vulnerable too being over 70. 

So we will stay home as much as possible.  We will wash our hands a lot.  And we will pray for an end to this pandemic soon.