Sci-Fi Living

Staying pretty secluded, Day 3: Does anyone else feel a bit like you’re living in a sci-fi movie right now? I’ve always had a penchant for books and movies about weird mutant viruses that come out of nowhere and wreak havoc on the nice people in the story. But that’s just it . . . . those were just stories.

In the last 5 days, we’ve gone from being advised not to gather in groups of more than 250, which quickly jumped to just 50, which soon went to 10. Ten! Suddenly all activities are off the calendar, kids are home from school, people are working from home and we are supposed to be staying home as much as possible and when we’re out, keeping our distance from others. I know for a lot of folks this is a really rough time, and for those of you feeling the brunt of this, I’m truly sorry. Weddings have been postponed. Class trips are canceled. Job situations are up in the air. Medical staff will be inundated if they aren’t already. This is uncharted territory for us and we just don’t quite know what to do.

All of this is easier for me than most because: A.) My kids are grown and gone. No one to homeschool here! No sibling fights to mediate, school lessons to figure out, no one is hungry or bored and looking to me for help. B.) I don’t work outside of our home so no figuring out how or if I can make that work. C.) I may be approaching the status of “elderly” but I’m not quite there yet. And I don’t think having bunions qualifies as an “underlying condition.”

As for being an introverted homebody who’s social activities have been completely kiboshed, can I say so far I don’t hate this? I mean I do hate that we are all having to go through this and I’m sorry for all the trouble it is causing so many people, but I’m trying to find the positive in what’s happening, and here’s what I can see:

• I’m so grateful for my house. It’s way too big for two people most of the time, but now I’m glad to have so much room (and so many rooms) to roam and inhabit.
• I’m so grateful for technology. Wait, did I really just say that? Usually technology intimidates the heck out of me, but keeping in touch with friends and family via group texts, emails, social media is so important right now. Plus, my church streams its services online so even though we’re not meeting in person, we still can “have church” while all this virusy business is going on.
• I’m so grateful for my husband. As we say to each other with a smirk and a shrug, “You’re all I got,” humorously implying that that’s a small thing. He has always worked so hard for our family and only seems to be working harder as the years go by.
• I’m so grateful for my God. So much of this is difficult to understand but I still believe God is in control. It’s a daily choice to trust He knows best and will take care of me and my peeps.

Whoops – This list should really read in reverse order as it doesn’t look good to have my house and technology listed over God and my husband. I’ll work on that.

Stay well! – – – Patti