I’m not sure who I’m writing this for.
I’ve been thinking of getting more thought out of my head and into a central place for a while, but is it for me?
I’ve had the idea that I should document this time for my kids, because it’s going to probably blend together in the future. Will we want to go back and relive each moment, or just be glad it’s over? Or is is more for my personal well being, a sort of self-care where I can try to get all the words out?
No one really has the answer yet; it’s too soon.
Now that we’re here, in mid-March, it still doesn’t seem like this was the destination of this story, the story of COVID-19, but here we are.
It’s still difficult to wrap my thoughts around the size of the situation. I’m not one to read or watch dystopian fiction, so maybe I’m less prepared in the theatrical sense. However, since the virus came onto the scene a few months ago, the story has been in my orbit, mostly because I’ve become a current events / political news junkie.
I’m in Ohio, and glad our state has taken a strong point of leadership in guidelines set forth, and was one of the first to push for stronger social distancing. I’m also fortunate to have a job where I already work from / based at home in the normal sense, but was then asked to stay home all the time moving forward. Also my wife stays home with our three young children, so we’re set up to weather this thing fairly well.
However, today it was noted that social distancing could be enacted / encouraged for months to a year while the virus runs its course. A FULL YEAR. We’ve already joked in the first few days that this is the “new normal” with all five of us home all day, but to think of an actual year is daunting. All the holidays, soccer seasons, swim classes, birthdays, vacations, trips to relatives, weekends at friend’s houses, sleepovers, nights out (rare as they already were), playground playdates, art workshops, day trips, eating out, movies, just EVERYTHING. How will the kids grow up with this as part of their lives? Of course, they won’t know any different, it will just be “normal”.
But it’s not normal. This wasn’t our plan for them, or for us grown ups. But here we are.
I’ve already been a little anxious about this, and wanting to take the maximalist amount of precautions for ourselves and others around us, particularly our older parents. I’ve tried saying that some anxiety is a normal human reaction, especially in a situation like this where we can only control so much. I still think that’s true, although the anxiety level can vary with the headlines.
At this time, the numbers of cases are supposed to get worse before they get better, mainly due to the lack of testing thus far. A great perspective on testing (from an ODH briefing I heard) is that it’s a snapshot of the past. With a positive test result, that’s saying an individual has been infected for 10-14ish days.
I hope we started social distancing soon enough; the news out of Italy is wrenching. I think about those friends and relatives in health care, and don’t want them to have to decide every day between who gets treatment and who doesn’t. And the thought that any healthy person could potentially be asymptomatic and still out as a vector for the virus is hard to think about; it helps keep me focused on good hand washing.
So here we are. We’ll be here a while. I think it’ll be ok, but it’s too soon to be sure. I just want everyone to be well, now and always.
CanalSide 