February 7, 2021

Today would have been my mom's 84th birthday. I woke up thinking that if she was still alive, I probably would have picked her up and taken her to my brother's to celebrate. But then - as I became more awake - I remembered COVID. I wonder if she was still alive, would I have been able to visit her yet, 11 months after the COVID pandemic began. In my mind, there's no justification for denying elderly or sick people from seeing their families. Certainly limited, certainly with PPE, but certainly allowed. I have a few more quotes from John this week.... It gets worse every day. Me: What? The psychological pain. It get's worse every day. Someone has taken my soul. Things have been taken away from me. My ability to make my own decisions. It's eating away at me. He also keeps talking about going out to buy a car so he can drive again. If only it was that easy. John's watching the superbowl right now. Since he used to play and coach football, I asked him if he wanted to watch the game. He said "No, I used to like football but I don't know anymore." So I turned it on anyway, and he sat down to watch it. He dozed off in the first quarter, but he's watching now. At one point I asked him how they get 3 points in football (clearly I'm clueless!), but he said he used to know but couldn't rmember. So I googled it and educated both of us. I got my first COVID vaccine shot this past week. I qualify because of my job. As the Office Manager I'm also the backup to the Health Clerk, so that qualifies me. John will get his first shot in a week or two through his connections at Easter Seals.