BY JOELLEN COLLINS
I can imagine that many of the “survivors” of the recent world pandemic are breathing some sighs of relief that the coronavirus is not quite as dangerously deadly than it was months ago. Most thought we could resume our lives “kind of” as they were pre-COVID. We no longer were required to spend many days in isolation and be flexible about institutions that had changed or been closed because of the widespread transmission of this virus.
I thought I could now visit some friends, shop without being required to wear a mask, and even travel again. I have learned this is not always true, and that beyond being careful about checking for signs of the disease and considerate of others who may risk more extreme effects if contaminated with COVID, life might return to “normal.”
To quote the great Gershwin lyric, “It ain’t necessarily so.” Life is not the same. For example, we are affected by the damage done to education through decreasing attendance and learning via computer versus an in-person teacher. Will children behave differently with peers after long months of not being able to study or play together? Where are the social lessons of the playground and classroom between peers and teachers?
We have noted the delays in many of our endeavors due to new seating, crowds, and a loss of comforting ways we could show empathy. Shaking hands is still anathema to some, hugs rare, and distance exacerbated by the new difficulties of travel. I used to take lightly these challenges, but not now, due to COVID affecting rules and schedules, even though the imminent widespread prospect of death from the virus, crowd control, numbers of employees and changes in seating and other aspects of travel are different. I have added these to my task of polishing the now rusty wheels on my feet.
Three trips I planned to take in the next two months have been or may be altered due to some of my family members and friends coming down with the virus after even careful visits with others. One weekend with my son-in-law’s parents was cancelled because the hosts contracted COVID. The make-up event, a Mother’s Day celebration, may also be changed if anybody tests positive. I also am planning a highly emotional and perhaps necessary trip to
Oklahoma at the end of this month to meet dozens of people of my generation who are “cousins” to me but who I haven’t known because my biological parents gave me up for adoption. Since my birth father was one of 13 siblings, the number of “cousins” I have is massive. My story is too long to cover in this column, but it is one of several unexpected circumstances that could still be “cancelled due to COVID.” We’ll see, but I’m learning to live by this quote from Marie Curie: “Nothing in life is to be feared; it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less.”