March 11, 2020 Luck in the Time of Pandemic

If I was not a procrastinator I would be writing this post in March, instead of April, but since I am one, I am going to divert away from family and ancestry stories and talk about the present.  2020 will always be remember for one thing, and only one thing, COVID19. Yes, the awful Corona Virus.  We were horrified to hear of another virus affecting China. Concerned when it affected Asia. But the real "Oh No!" moment came when it hit the US. It wasn't taken seriously at first, but as it started its insidious spread from relatively minor pockets to affecting large portions of the population, panic began. This isn't our first brush with an overwhelming epidemic.  My great uncle Joe was felled by Cholera in 1899, he was just a toddler.  My parents were both babies at the time of the Spanish Flu, and a cousin was one of the first persons I knew who had AIDS.  At that time there wasn't much known about that disease and he died from it.  We lived through Swine Flu, Ebola, Mersa, SARS, West Nile, and many other frightening diseases.  But I do believe Corona is the worst.

Having a former nurse for a president at work, she took it very seriously and proclaimed no more group lunches, only one person per table, eat in your car if you can.  Signs appeared on all surfaces to wash your hands frequently, before and after entering the break room or collection floor.  Half of the workers were moved to an empty portion of our building to observe the 6 foot distancing, and hand sanitizer, Lysol spray, and Clorox wipes appeared every where. Our desks were cleared of all non essential items, like photos, knick knacks, and notebooks.  Plans were began for remote work. This was back when the virus was not considered a threat to the United States. The powers that be were hard at work getting permissions from our clients, finding out about  the ins and outs of working with confidential material remotely, asking who had a private space that could be locked for a work space, checking our home internet speeds, and purchasing the laptops to send home with us.  The laptops then had to be loaded with the programs, checked to make sure it would work, and fighting off a deadline and many headaches.

On March 19, 2020 a select group of workers were sent home with a fist full of instructions and a laptop.  This was a week before Governor Gretchen Whitmer's edit to stay at home.  On the way home from Jackson I stopped at Kroger for milk and fresh veg and fruit.  Already the toilet paper was sold out.That was the big craze for this pandemic.  The toilet paper hoarding. This virus didn't even include diarrhea! I was raised by a depression era mother and was a boy scout mom.   I was prepared!  My pantry was well stocked, my 5 cubic foot freezer was full, and I had coffee and toilet paper.  No worries.  But I did worry, as my son and son-in-law were both essential workers and while David lived alone, Jason went home every night to my Daughter Lena and my grandchildren.

This was the longest period in my adult life that I had spent at home.  I filled the time after clocking out with cleaning, sorting, genealogy, reading, scrapbooking, and praying. I only ventured out a few times.  I kept a record in my planner of the days that I had contact with others, just to keep track of who I was exposed to.  Being diabetic, asthmatic, and having high blood pressure I was pretty careful. My conditions were well under control with medication and care, but no sense in taking chances, I thought.

So, in April I am sheltered in place.  My home is my safe place.  I work my 40 hours a week.  I clean, sort, and move things around my house. I read. My safe place.

So I think I am one of the luckiest people around.  My boys both have kept their income, albeit they are out in the public.  I have an income.  I have meat and vegetables in my freezer, I have canned and dry goods.  I have several people I communicate with regularly. My lights and heat are on.  I can go to church via U tube. I have faith in the Lord that our country will recover.  Blessed be the name of the Lord.