First anniversary of the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) declaring Corona virus a pandemic.

My most vivid memory was managing to get my taxes done at the local H&R Block, just before everything shut down. They had to be done by someone else last year, as the woman who usually does them (for the past three years in fact), her husband had recently passed away. Not sure from what, but it wasn’t COVID-19; too early in the pandemic game. I distinctly remember when I first started dealing with her that she was also a retired federal civil servant, and that she and hubby had several RSPs for travelling, etc. in their golden years. With his death, the irony wasn’t lost on me.

And what a year it’s been. Lost two dear friends myself, one from old age, the other, Cancer. Managed to get surgery for my herniated navel in-between first and second wave lockdowns. Although I’ve managed to have two dental appointments...checkups/cleaning, haven’t seen my family doctor since late 2019. He stopped meeting patients face to face, even with face masks, and switched to doing phone interviews, of which I had two in 2020.

As I’ve said before, son Jason and I were/are largely homebodies these days, so the adjustment wasn’t that bad. It was just the idea that the basic freedom to meet with family and friends (haven’t seen my brother or sister since 2019), eat in restaurants, travel, etc. had been taken away, with no idea when things would return to normal. Based on history, a vaccine seemed years away, at least in the first half of the year.

And now, I follow the news religiously, waiting to find out when my age group (60s) can get any one of the four vaccines approved by Health Canada. Although the flow of vaccines has increased in the past month, might still be weeks or even months before I can get one.

On the bright side, Spring is in the air, with a predicted high of 12 degrees Celsius today. As always, life is a mixture of bad...and good.


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03/10/2021

Posted on 03/10/2021
Copyright © 2024 Chris Sorrenti