It feels strange even posting this today given what’s going on in Ukraine. My heart goes out to those who have been and will continue to be personally affected by the Russian invasion of their sovereign, peaceful country.
As I wrote last week, my daughter Em got sick. She didn’t get COVID. I’m guessing it was a cold. She seems to be feeling better, but she still has a lingering chunky cough a week later.
A couple of days ago, her in-home nurse was supposed to come back since Em was through the worst of it. That morning, her nurse said she had a bit of a scratchy throat, but she thought it was only allergies. We asked her to take a COVID test just in case. And sure enough, she tested positive.
I feel kind of bad about it now, but I just started laughing. I thought, of course it happened again. Of course, just when we thought we might get a bit of respite and time to properly attend to our work, we’re in for at least ten more days of full-time care.
A little over a year ago, I wrote this piece:
The gist is that I let Em’s same nurse into our home when she had similar symptoms back then. Allison stepped in, thankfully, and sent her home within five minutes. And, of course, she tested positive for COVID.
This is the predicament that parents with kids under five years old are in. They can’t get their kids vaccinated, yet they need to carry on with their work and, y’know, get out of the house every once in a while. Add in the complication of a kid with a disability, a history of respiratory issues, who’s non-verbal, and apparently just wants to yell about how crappy she’s feeling at the top of her lungs all day, and you have yourself a recipe for off-the-charts cabin fever.
But we’re making it work. And we’re incredibly lucky that we have flexible hours and can work remotely from home. But man, it’s exhausting. I even fell asleep on the couch before we ate dinner the past two evenings.
There’s no real moral to this story or lesson to be learned. Maybe it’s that we all just need to keep persevering and holding out some hope that we’ll eventually go back to some semblance of normalcy. Some regular old precedented times would be nice right about now.
I’m not holding my breath, though.
When Em’s nurse got COVID last year, I asked my readers to donate if they wanted to help. We were able to raise a fair amount of money and she was grateful for your generosity.
Now she not only has COVID yet again, but she has also dealt with other health issues this past year, so she’s been out of work a lot. My wife Allison and I will be donating some money to help out. If you would like to donate, as well, please send whatever amount of money you’d like to my Venmo, Cash App, or simply email me and we’ll figure something out. Any amount helps and I’ll pass every cent along to her.
Thank you ♥️
If you enjoyed this week’s piece, could you please let me know by tapping on the heart button below?
Thanks for a other great read. Always enjoy it. I'm proud to be your friend.