Warding off isolation

“The feelings in your book are how I feel now, during COVID!”

Ironically, if it weren’t for COVID, I wouldn’t have found the time or energy to complete my manuscript. We stayed home to help “flatten the curve” and for months, I wrote. And wrote. And wrote.

When a friend who lives alone made the remark above, it took me back to when I was first admitted to the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto with an undiagnosed illness. As a precaution, I was put in an isolation ward to negate the risk of spreading a potentially infectious disease. The door to my room was closed to all but my parents and medical staff. Masks, gloves, shoe booties, hair caps and gowns were mandatory. Sound vaguely familiar? Was I afraid? No, bewildered maybe. Two weeks earlier, I had been horseback riding, swimming......carefree. Life can change on a dime. I had, however, the innate optimism of a child and believed that this was not going to be a permanent state of affairs. I assumed that things would be good again. It’s been a long 11 months, but COVID won’t isolate us forever. Are you managing to stay hopeful and optimistic until things normalize and we can connect with our world again?