I am one of the Fortunate Ones

I am one of the fortunate ones. I cringe as I say that. It sounds “elitist” and “self serving” and just wrong in so many ways. And yet, it’s the truth. As COVID19 ravishes the planet, I am one of the fortunate ones. My husband is retired and we have a steady retirement income coming in. And while our investments have declined in value, they are still there and we don’t need to decimate them in order to pay our bills. As a Realtor, my business was “quieter” at the start of the pandemic, giving me time to take stock of my business then take some certification and designation training classes I’d been putting off for awhile now, but my business never stopped and now it has rebounded with a pent up energy that is astounding. While we know people who have relatives who have come down with COVID19, so far (knock on wood), no one in our extended families and no close friend has gotten it. Though I do wonder, when this is all over, who I may not receive an annual Christmas card from – will they have died from COVID, or something else, or have just decided it was time to stop sending cards? And will I ever know? I wonder, how many elderly and singles, who don’t have a good support system checking in on them, will quietly disappear, some having gotten sick and died in their homes, and no one realized it until they’d been gone for awhile. I am grateful for the weekly calls from the church, family zoom calls and checking in with my neighbors and friends that are going on in my life. When I shop, I note the barren shelves and the signs rationing hard to acquire items, but I have enough to take care of my family’s needs and the creativity to figure out substitutions for items I want that aren’t readily available. I have the ability to WANT, rather than NEED items. As others cringe, having to get on public transportation to go to work, school and shopping, I own 3 vehicles and can easily get to where I need to go while maintaining social distancing. I have a sewing machine, material, elastic, thread and pipe cleaners and while I’m not a “seamstress”, I have enough skill and knowledge to make face masks to protect my family. Work from home? Internet connection? As others worry about them, between my husband and I, we each have a home office and we have 2 desk top computers, a laptop, an IPad and 2 smart phones, along with a printer that will scan and fax. Our home has a fairly strong internet connection with a router booster system that helps to ensure that we get a decent signal in most of our home for equipment that isn’t wired. Feeling like we’re “cooped up and need a break from family members”, while I admit to having that feeling occasionally, my husband has the ability to go check on the family farm in Jefferson county when he’s feeling “cooped up” and I have the ability to go to my company office in Kirkwood. But typically he’s in his downstairs office and I’m in the kitchen or my upstairs office so we don’t get in each others way. Trying to work while home schooling children is an issue for many, but my son is 40+ and lives in Tampa, so home schooling isn’t on my agenda. Instead, I have the pleasure of entertaining my almost 5 year old great niece by reading to her on facetime while her mother works from home. I admit, I haven’t totally sequestered myself over the past few months, unlike my sister who has only left home for doctor appointments and walks in a nearby park and who has everything delivered to her doorstep. I’ve met with clients both online and in person. I’ve gone shopping at grocery stores, Target and Walmart, and when they reopened, at Jackman Fabric and JoAnn Fabric. I’ve gone to my office in Kirkwood. I’ve gone through a drive thru to get a frozen yogurt. And I’ve made a point of picking up carryout from restaurants (and now dining in at them) that I want to see still around when this is over. I follow CDC guidelines when I do it and wear my mask and use my hand sanitizer, but I am able to continue to live my life. Granted, it’s not the same way I was living it in Jan and Feb, but then it’s not cold either. So I am one of the fortunate ones.