Yup.......still alive
It has been a long time since I've written. I see that as a major failure on my part. There is always something to write about. Always hopes and fears and joy and tears. I only have one excuse. Life got away from me. Oh, I could use the excuse that I had writers' block or I didn't have anything to write about but that would be bullshit so I'm being as honest and transparent as I can. I forgot the simple fact that writing is MY time. It is for ME to express through words MY emotions and thoughts, MY joy, pain, and fear.
We, my partner and I are under the "shelter in place" advisory as we live in NYC. We have not left our apartment for the past 30 days except to gather grocery deliveries or the mail. That is when I realized I had plenty to write about and plenty of time to do it in.
So bear with me as I analyze the best things to help me, us and hopefully you, reach some sense of sanity on what is going on around us, with a little bit of humor combined with reality.
I am 51 and am in the high-risk category for the Coronavirus. As of today's date, I have been afflicted with HIV, Kidney failure, Kidney transplant, Heart disease, Heart attack, Bypass surgery, Stroke, Type II Diabetes and sleep apnea....now that may sound like an awful lot of problems to those of you with good health, and you would be right, but those issues are stories for another day. I disclose this information so that anyone reading this understands my reality and my fear of being in NYC while we are the epicenter of the global pandemic for COVID-19.
I am also a Flight Attendant for a Global carrier (not so Global at the moment) and have been in the industry since 1988. Currently, I am out on the injury list and not working due to recuperating from a torn rotator cuff (yet another story for another day). So unlike my brave co-workers who are going to work to transport people and cargo where they need to go, I am doing physical therapy at home while doing virtual visits with both my doctors and my Physical Therapists.
I watch Governor Cuomo every day as I find him a calming sense of truth and reality in these insane times. I do not watch the white house briefings as it raises my blood pressure too quickly....(see above mentioned medical issues)
We get up, we shower and dress, my partner cooks breakfast and feeds our dog (Chico), then we listen to the briefing by Governor Cuomo, then we take turns on the exercise bike for 30-45 minutes and after that....we listen to Thom Hartman, Randi Rhodes and Michaelangelo Signorelli...and occasionally I'll allow continuation with Dean Obedallah if I have not reached my talk show limit.
We have set our routine...but make no mistake. We are scared. Very scared. I am scared I will have to go back to work soon and could be exposed in hundreds of different ways. We are scared that I will get sick and with current data, will most likely die. I am scared that he will be exposed going to the lobby of our building to get deliveries and mail. I like to think I'm like a cat that has 9 lives....well if that's the case I'm 6 of 9 so that might be a bit helpful in the long run.
My partner is Jewish and while I am not, I look forward to the rituals we celebrate together throughout the year. This year, like many other families, we had a zoom seder. All the family was together, healthy, happy and whole and it was a thoroughly enjoyable evening. It was also my great-niece's birthday. Her mother sent me a text the next day of what she had to say about her birthday. It affected me very deeply.
This is the text I received from my niece:
"So Miri just told me that this was the best birthday ever. I asked her what made it the best ever and she said, "Because nobody (in the family) is sick or dead from COVID...and when you are in a pandemic you realize that you don't need stuff to make you happy- you just need family and togetherness."
Out of the mouths of babes.
We, my partner and I are under the "shelter in place" advisory as we live in NYC. We have not left our apartment for the past 30 days except to gather grocery deliveries or the mail. That is when I realized I had plenty to write about and plenty of time to do it in.
So bear with me as I analyze the best things to help me, us and hopefully you, reach some sense of sanity on what is going on around us, with a little bit of humor combined with reality.
I am 51 and am in the high-risk category for the Coronavirus. As of today's date, I have been afflicted with HIV, Kidney failure, Kidney transplant, Heart disease, Heart attack, Bypass surgery, Stroke, Type II Diabetes and sleep apnea....now that may sound like an awful lot of problems to those of you with good health, and you would be right, but those issues are stories for another day. I disclose this information so that anyone reading this understands my reality and my fear of being in NYC while we are the epicenter of the global pandemic for COVID-19.
I am also a Flight Attendant for a Global carrier (not so Global at the moment) and have been in the industry since 1988. Currently, I am out on the injury list and not working due to recuperating from a torn rotator cuff (yet another story for another day). So unlike my brave co-workers who are going to work to transport people and cargo where they need to go, I am doing physical therapy at home while doing virtual visits with both my doctors and my Physical Therapists.
I watch Governor Cuomo every day as I find him a calming sense of truth and reality in these insane times. I do not watch the white house briefings as it raises my blood pressure too quickly....(see above mentioned medical issues)
We get up, we shower and dress, my partner cooks breakfast and feeds our dog (Chico), then we listen to the briefing by Governor Cuomo, then we take turns on the exercise bike for 30-45 minutes and after that....we listen to Thom Hartman, Randi Rhodes and Michaelangelo Signorelli...and occasionally I'll allow continuation with Dean Obedallah if I have not reached my talk show limit.
We have set our routine...but make no mistake. We are scared. Very scared. I am scared I will have to go back to work soon and could be exposed in hundreds of different ways. We are scared that I will get sick and with current data, will most likely die. I am scared that he will be exposed going to the lobby of our building to get deliveries and mail. I like to think I'm like a cat that has 9 lives....well if that's the case I'm 6 of 9 so that might be a bit helpful in the long run.
My partner is Jewish and while I am not, I look forward to the rituals we celebrate together throughout the year. This year, like many other families, we had a zoom seder. All the family was together, healthy, happy and whole and it was a thoroughly enjoyable evening. It was also my great-niece's birthday. Her mother sent me a text the next day of what she had to say about her birthday. It affected me very deeply.
This is the text I received from my niece:
"So Miri just told me that this was the best birthday ever. I asked her what made it the best ever and she said, "Because nobody (in the family) is sick or dead from COVID...and when you are in a pandemic you realize that you don't need stuff to make you happy- you just need family and togetherness."
Out of the mouths of babes.
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