By Deb Codding
Dear Covid,
The news calls you a PANDEMIC – I call you a PAN-DAMN-IC.
I had just started to recover from a heart attack on Christmas Eve, December 2019 when you reared your ugly head.
Well nanny-nanny-boo-boo — try as you might you DID NOT catch me and I DID NOT catch you!
Of course, that didn’t stop you from wreaking havoc in my life.
My 40-year-old daughter got sick just about the time the doctors went to virtual appointments. You know the kind you caused where the doctors don’t want to see you in person and you just talk into the computer describe your symptoms. She had to wait for the Covid test results before she could be treated. She got sicker with each day, and when the results were still not back after almost 2 weeks, the doctor sent her to emergency room.
Guess what – my daughter DID NOT catch you either. Of course, waiting to see if it was you causing her misery caused the bacterial pneumonia she did have to reach the critical stage and she almost died. After 10 days in the hospital and 2 weeks more at home, she finally recovered from a condition that would never have gotten so far along had your PAN-DAMN-IC not been on the scene.
That didn’t stop you trying to take my family though, did it? NO, you continued to spread your nastiness making it mandatory for OLD people like me to have to stay away from everyone – even at home. Your PAN-DAMN-IC made me stay downstairs when my family was upstairs. When I went upstairs, they had to come downstairs. We communicated in our own home by texting.
My days were numbered before you arrived, but that’s okay – it’s the natural order of things. What isn’t the natural order of things is for you to come along with your PAN-DAMN-IC, isolating me from my family, my friends and my co-workers? I’ve had to stay at home for over a year now because I’m HIGH RISK – over 65 with underlying serious medical conditions like coronary artery disease and COPD.
I can’t go to my oldest granddaughter’s high school graduation in Italy because of you and your PAN-DAMN-IC. It is too dangerous for me to travel.
Should I panic every time I cough, sneeze, or get short of breathe? You’d like that wouldn’t you? You’d like to hear me say “OMG, Covid finally got me.”
Well, HELL NO! I will not allow you to take any more of my life from me! I’m doing what I’ve always done – I’m ADAPTING.
You will not beat ME! You will not beat my FAMILY! You will not beat our COUNTRY! You will not beat our WORLD!
We are SURVIVORS. We REJOICE every new day as your numbers fall and more vaccines are developed. You can run but you cannot hide. We are turning the tide and in the not so distant future you will be gone and we will still be here!
Pack your bags, Covid, and go straight to HELL!
Disrespectfully,
Your worst nightmare – an OLD lady with the will to LIVE
