Hello Musings readers. I spent all last week with my grandchildren, and it was an absolute joy to get to be Mimi and help out with them. I spent Monday to Friday at my one daughter and son-in-law’s home because the daycare where their baby daughter goes had an employee test positive for CoVid. I’m not sure if she was already vaccinated or not (I hope she was), but protocol was to quarantine, and for all the babies to not come in for a 10 day period. So, I went to my daughter’s to care for their sweet 5 month old, and it certainly was a pleasure to do. I don’t like that CoVid was the reason for the shutdown at daycare but I was glad to have some wonderful one-on-one time with my newest grandchild.
Since last writing here we are seeing in the news that CoVid positive people are filling up hospitals again. We are also seeing that schools that have started back are having children test positive and they have to then stay home. Our local county is not off to a very start. A couple of the schools in the county have over 300 children at home, waiting out the quarantine time. Hopefully none will have bad symptoms and require hospitalization.
As somewhat predicted, the CoVid Varient has become a big concern for young people. The older people vaccinated are protected, and soon will be eligible for a booster shot. I don’t consider myself old – certainly not elderly – but I will gladly go get the booster when it is available for me. Just as I now get a flu shot each year, I want my body able to fight off the flu and CoVid. I am doing the right thing. I am protecting me – and I am doing what I can to stop the flu and CoVid from spreading to others.
I think you have to be living on a mountaintop somewhere, away from all people and the news, not to know about the latest CoVid concerns. Either that, or you continue in denial about it – and maybe you have not known anyone personally that has been seriously affected. Maybe that is why some are still not going out to get vaccinated. Still, it boggles my mind.
And, because of the unvaccinated and the numbers going up, our church has gone back to wearing masks inside for worship. I really, really wish I could ask all those who sit around me if they have been vaccinated. It would make life easier. Vaccinated with other vaccinated people are pretty safe together. It’s the unvaccinated, who might also be CoVid carriers (without symptoms) that are more likely to be the spreaders.
The old adage “one step forward and two steps back” is how we are living right now with Co-Vid. We got to taste a bit of normal living earlier in the summer. People were outdoors, and the seriously ill numbers were down. So, restrictions loosened. It felt good to be doing things we had not been able to do for over a year.
Now that we are back it’s doubly hard to stop activities. Right? Some people refuse to go backwards. So, masked up we go!
I belong to a quilting group at my church and we continue on each week. I’m glad we do. We meet together in a room and work on putting together quilts to give to the needy, to those who need a ‘pick me up,’ and for those who actually need some warmth. I work around a table with 3 or 4 other ladies tying knots as we finish up quilts. Do I want to ask if they are fully vaccinated? You better believe it. But do I? No. I hope and pray that they are.
I have read online about people changing doctors because they and their staff will not divulge if they are vaccinated. They use HIPA privacy laws for their stance. I can’t help but think, if that is what they say then they are not vaccinated. If they were Vaccinated then they would freely and proudly say “yes, it is very safe to come here.”
I wear a mask that says “I am vaccinated.” I want others to know that I have done the right thing, and I continue to do the right thing by masking up.
The amount of distrust has elevated – and it’s because it has come to a ‘life or death’ concern.
So, Here we are today: schools are in peril. Funerals, weddings, worship services are back to where they were before. We mask again going into stores and businesses. We fear ‘the other person’ because we don’t know if they are an antivaxxer and silently spreading CoVid. We wonder if they have denied the science – the facts – the need to work as a community to fight this pandemic.
I live in the south where the numbers of CoVid cases are larger than other areas of the country. I live in a rural area with folks born and raised here. I get that they don’t always see the ‘big picture’ and want to stay in their bubble. I live among some who are strong on freedoms and use their religion as a shield. “God will take care of me.” “God puts us here on earth for a certain amount of time.” “It’s in God’s hands.”
Hey!!! No it is not! It is in our hands as to how we react to circumstances around us. God gives us free will, and he gives us messages to love and to treat your neighbor as yourself. God is watching us and wondering why we go astray like we do. And… I believe, when we do have our final breath God may ask us “why?”
So… as I love on my grandkids and enjoy them so much, I also worry about their health and well-being. I hope and pray that they do not get CoVid and that the adults around them make good decisions. I also hope and pray that every student 12 and older get vaccinated, and those under 12 don’t become a casualty of CoVid.
Because now, it’s about the children. Really. What will it take to get us all vaccinated to save children?
I wish I knew.
Marla’s Musings 