Yesterday the kids told me that life feels like March 2020 all over again. After so many months of trying to regain normalcy, everything is getting shut down once more. I'm back to obsessing over daily case counts. (Over 10,000 for the last two days. Utah's previous high was 4700 last January.) I'm fretting about hospitals becoming overwhelmed. I feel less scared about personally ending up in the ICU thanks to vaccinations and boosters, but at the same time COVID feels so much more present because I know so many people who are infected at the moment. My father, my sister, Jason's co-worker, multiple kids in each of the kids' classrooms, Annika's teacher, etc., etc., etc. If I'm completely frank, it wouldn't surprise me at all if someone in our family were positive and we just don't know it. Given how contagious Omicron is, I think it's pretty unavoidable that we will all be exposed at some point.
Yesterday West High School surpassed a "Test to Stay" threshold, so every student is now required to get tested if they want to avoid quarantine. I suspect the elementary schools will soon follow suit. After all, literally half of Annika's class has been absent all week.
The past two days have brought some tough disappointments. As the kids' main Christmas present, we gave them tickets to Hamilton. Our tickets were for tonight, but the performance has been cancelled because of COVID in the cast. Supposedly the performance may get rescheduled, but we'll see. Frankly, I don't dare hope because I don't want to be let down again.
Brooklyn's had an even harder disappointment. At the end of the month, she was supposed to attend a conference in DC for CADCA (Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America.) After an extensive application process, she had been selected as one of twelve teen delegates being sent to the conference by Salt Lake County. She was so excited for the conference and the chance to speak with legislators on Capitol Hill. Just as importantly, the group was thrilled to be experiencing the National Mall and the other rich experiences of DC. Heck, Brooklyn had even been allotted a generous per diem food allowance that she was drooling over.
The program's cancellation was somewhat predicted, given the irony of gathering en masse to speak about health. Still, my heart hurts for Brooklyn. It's a big loss. There may be other chances for her to travel with CADCA in the future, but I think it's okay to acknowledge that right now, this is hard.
So yeah. In many ways it feels like we are right back where we began. May this COVID Groundhogs Day not last forever.
1 comment:
So sorry for the Covid cancellations, and even more the understandable disappointments. This darn pandemic is testing us in many ongoing and initially unforeseen ways. I suggest we all continue to find ways to thrive within the spheres we have a bit more day to day control over. Try to keep smiling!
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