It seemed like a bad cold. A simple test changed everything. A Swab in the nose and a fifteen- minute wait. A world-wide pandemic has come to my home. I have found myself with covid19.
Covid is
like a bad cold for me, just as today’s rain and gloom are like unpleasant
days. I feel okay after more than a week of respiratory symptoms such as cough,
runny nose, sore throat and tiredness, but no fever. I have had several days of
staying at home reading, doing puzzles, cleaning house, cooking real food from
my refrigerator, doing whatever else needed doing, and mainly missing Pete. Boyfriend
Pete does not have covid. We were together until I tested positive for covid
and he tested negative. Now we talk on the phone daily but do not share this illness.
A week ago this was a cold; now it is disease.
What to do?
I have taken walks every day, using the newfound time that has arrived after I
canceled all my outside activities. One afternoon I walked in Elver Park.
Another day I walked on the Ice Age Trail Verona Segment; another on the
Military Ridge State Trail in Verona; another in Governor Nelson State Park on
Lake Mendota. Walking has helped with morale and prevents boredom. (Of course If
I really was bored I could have done a lot more housework.) Today it is
raining; walking will commence another day.
I think of a
song that cheers me. Years ago the Beatles sang “I Want to Hold Your hand.”
This connects me with Pete and how I feel about being or not being with him. “And
when I see you I feel happy,” they sang. It works for me and the isolating
aloneness. I sing with the Beatles and Alexa. Covid feels okay then and so do
I.
Today’s
clouds and rain will give way to sunshine and autumn leaves in a few days. Another
song reminds me that the sun will come out tomorrow. I sing with the Beatles about
holding hands and know that everything will get better. The clouds of covid
will give way to sunshine. This pandemic of our century will go away eventually.
We will have been part of a historic medical event. I am no longer sick, but
just contagious.
