Strange Times

Everyone is feeling it right now. COVID 19 has taken over our lives and no one has been spared. This pandemic has catapulted the entire world into strange times. This invisible enemy, as many have called it, doesn't discriminate and is among us, making some deathly ill and barely affecting others' health. It may be inside me at this very moment and I don't even know it. That's what makes it so scary, so nerve-wrecking.

So all we have to do is stay home. Those of us who don't have to take care of the sick or work at a grocery store or provide any other essential service... we help by staying home. I am working from my laptop; attending and running meetings online. All of the attendees sit in their own square, reminiscent of the Brady Bunch opening, it's kind of comical. I also get to facilitate the home or distance learning that my kids are engaged in. All of them (2nd, 5th, 12th and Sophomore in college) work on their devices and attend classes in the same Brady Bunch-like manner... strange times, indeed! I have ventured out a few times to 'hunt' for supplies and food. Never have I experienced such social anxiety while shopping at Target or any other store. It has truly become like the "Hunger Games," especially when it comes to paper products, namely toilet paper. I have yet to see some. My most recent trip was to a whole sale store and that particular aisle was roped off, as if to say, "don't even think about it!!!" What??? At home we have a schedule and try to function in a normal way, so the days are pretty full and go by quickly. But they are not without worry.

I think about my husband a lot. He thinks he's invincible. "I workout!" he says, to pretty much everything, every obstacle that may present itself. I don't know if he says that to get a chuckle out of me or if he really thinks that working out is the cure-all, like the dad in the movie "My Big Fat Greek Wedding," whose cure-all is "put some Windex on it!" Every time he coughs, I ask him if he's OK and then go on to remind him to stay away from everyone, to wash his hands, etc. He's not worried, but I am. I keep watching as the dreaded virus makes its way across the NY prison system. Because he's now at a medium facility, all it takes is one person getting it in his dorm for everyone to get it. They share everything. Separation is not likely in a setting like that. And then, two nights ago, he told me that at 4 am someone was taken out, looking very ill. The staff came back and disinfected the dorm (not his). There's been no news whether this person had the virus or not, but in the meantime, everyone wonders. 

Governor Cuomo has been great about shutting
down our state. I think he's made the right call on closing schools, etc. Visitations have also been suspended and luckily, I was able to visit my husband on the last day they were allowed. I wonder, though, what will he do once this pandemic really hits the prisons. Jails have released people, other things are being worked out to relieve crowding in the prisons, too. That's what the news have been reporting. But, let's face it, the medical care inside the wall is quite poor. I don't even want to imagine what it would look like for someone who gets really sick, will they take them out to a hospital right away? Will they ignore their pleas for help? Will they even take them seriously?

On our end, we keep praying that by some miracle, the governor will exercise his clemency power and commute sentences. My husband is so close... it would be awesome if he got to come home. Then we can worry together! Or work out together so that nothing happens to us... I don't know, strange times call for strange actions, I suppose. But in all seriousness, the stress is real but all we can do is follow the guidelines; keep our distance even if it feels counter-intuitive, wash our hands, keep our hands away from our faces, and STAY HOME (if we can). This, too shall pass.