I found this difficult to write because I didn’t want to come off as complaining when others have it so much worse, but since this is about our own experiences, big or small, here goes.
This has become a series of unfortunate events, the first being not able to visit my husband when he was in the hospital (not virus related) for a week. It was a strange feeling not being there with him and also frustrating since he wasn’t very forthcoming with information and I had to wait a lot to find out what was going on. Fortunately everything worked out fine but unfortunately, he needs another procedure but can’t get that until this whole thing is over. Hopefully, nothing will happen with that in the meantime. Next, I substitute at a school and had a lot of jobs lined up through the end of May. With schools closed, all those went away, but the worst of it has been not being able to interact with the children and teachers. On the found side, being home so much as made me realize how much I enjoy my job. Every year I think that maybe this would be my last year of subbing just because I’m getting older and don’t really need to do it. Now this has made me see that I really want to continue to do this as long as I am able. Another loss in connection with school is that I would be off during the summer anyway, so this has added three more months to the usual summer boredom I feel. Third, I was planning to go back home to see the family over Spring Break, but couldn’t. I try to make it back there three or four times a year, so not being able to see my siblings, etc., has been sad. I talk to them on the phone, which is a blessing, but it’s not the same. Hopefully I can go in the summer. Fourth, I twisted my ankle over a month back. I try to take daily walks but couldn’t for some time and since it coincided with the weather getting nicer here, it made me feel more trapped since that’s one of the only things we can do during this shutdown. My ankle still bothers me so I’m still not walking as much as I would like to. Soon it will be super hot and humid here, so I’m missing great walking weather. It hasn’t helped in the weight department either which is maddening. Lastly, my son is getting his Masters Degree in Mechanical Engineering in May. He has been home more than he would have been, has been able to do his classes online and will still get his degree which are all blessings, but he was going to be entering a very good job market here and with his degree would probably have found a job easily. Now, he isn’t sure if companies will be hiring for a while and is feeling a bit dispirited. He may still get a job once this is over but it doesn’t look as promising as it did back in March.
As I said, all these are little irritations, but still have had an impact on day to day living. Overall though, I am very thankful because it could be much, much worse.