My friend George has a 1982 Jeep CJ7 that he’s owned since high school. It’s been through a lot, including a tornado that destroyed his business. It’s being held together with ingenuity, determination, love and ratchet straps. He was working on it when I stopped by today. (video :90)
I noticed a tiny, rusted tool in the console which George explained was used to turn the wipers on and off.
For the last year Barb and her sister Jan were diligent in keeping themselves and those around them safe. They were hunkered down. Now that they and their close family have been vaccinated, a few of them are spending a week at Barb’s place in Destin, FL. Well deserved. No indoor dining but lots of beach time.
Yesterday I played ping pong with my friend John for the first time in more than a year. Before the pandemic we’d get together every couple of weeks in his basement. John is good enough to call it table tennis but it will always be ping pong for me.
We chat as we play and boy was I ready to interact with another human. John and his wife, Peggy, have both been vaccinated for COVID (as have I) so we felt safe as we played and talked. It will be a while (never?) before I take such simple pleasure for granted.
In 1971 my pop ran for the office of mayor in the small town where we lived. He was 45 years old at the time. Not sure why he wanted to be mayor. He’d served on the city council for six years and must have found that satisfying or interesting (or something). According to his answers to a series of candidate questions in the local paper, he left radio in 1964 to take a job doing public relations for the local light and water utility. Held that position for three years.
Even with the positive name recognition that comes from being on the radio in a small town, he lost the race by 56 votes. A day or two after the election, he put a concession ad in the local paper.
Recent events (on the national level) make my pop’s little ad all the more… gracious? After losing the race, he stayed in radio for another dozen or so years. And then ran for County Assessor (and won)! My mom was in poor health and I think he was looking for a more reliable income than sales commissions from selling radio ads.
John must have had more of an interest in politics than I remembered. Six years on city council; a run for mayor; and a stint as Dunklin County Assessor. I recall him saying he spent “33 years in radio” but now I’m thinking he meant “a span of 33 years.”
Barb got her second COVID vaccination (Pfizer) this afternoon. I’ve been trying to think of a more anticipated event in the 40+ years we’ve been together. Our wedding was a big deal but I think we were both more excited about the after-party. But that wasn’t a life-or-death moment. Given our age and other factors, getting COVID could put us in the hospital and/or kill us. So we hunkered down. Way down. Rarely indoors away from home. Always wearing masks. Avoiding friends and family.
That last part has been really hard on Barb. She never complained but it was really hard on her not to spend time with her sisters and brothers, nieces and nephews, and all the “littles.” And her countless friends. But she did it. She did it for the people she loves and cares about and she did it because she loves life and wants hers back without the fear of a deadly virus putting her on a ventilator and maybe leaving her crippled for life.
For a long time the idea of an effective vaccine was just a tiny speck of light at the end of an endless, very dark tunnel. But the scientists came through and gave us a couple (so far) of vaccines. And good ones, that will keep us from getting really sick and winding up in the hospital. And the wait began.
As a former nurse, Barb appreciated the need for health care workers to get vaccinated first. And people in nursing homes. You know the story. Next in line were people over the age of 65 and those with health conditions that put them at higher risk from the virus. Hey, that’s us! So we put our names on the lists and waited for the call and checked our email.
Most of Barb’s friends have been vaccinated and some of her family. And in a week or so, this second shot will do its thing with/to her immune system and she can slowly and carefully take her life back. It’ll still be masks and social distancing (god, how I hate that term). She’ll be able sit indoors with her (vaccinated) sister and talk and plan their trips to Florida. She can hang out with her pals (the vaccinated ones) in the garden club. She can be with people besides me (and our two dogs). Truly, I can’t imagine what this has been like for her.
The vaccine has taken on an almost magical aura. A few drops of a colorless liquid from a tiny vial that changes… everything. Sure, there will be “variants” and “mutations” and the guys in lab will have to find ways to tweak the vaccines. And they will. But today… today Barb has as much protection as modern medicine can provide. And I have never been more grateful.
From the How to Know You Are Old file: 13 of my 139 contacts have been vaccinated. Some will surely disagree but this seems like an important data point.
Most important person in my life got her first COVID vaccination today. Whew.