Not long after getting my booster, not long after the numbers seemed to be trending in a good direction, and not long after my niece wrote about "Surviving Covid, " I was feeling brave enough to attend an Aqua-Boot Camp session. I was feeling braver than in nearly 2 years and grateful to see some vaguely familiar faces after a long time away. The water was unusually cool (the heaters were broken) and the session was more intense than I remembered. The instructor claimed to be trying to keep us warm; however, our group of shivering bathing suit wearing individuals seemed to "bond" over goosebumps and tired muscles.
After class, we escaped to a masked, dressing room where our stories seemed to emerge we shimmied into our sweats and sneakers.
"This was hard because I'm still unusually cold these days almost a year after Covid," someone offered as she quickly slid into sweats.
"Covid has made me cold all the time as well," someone else added.
"My son is still struggling with taste," someone else offered, "it's been 20 months."
"My granddaughter is fighting Covid right now. She is just a baby but pretty sick, at home," someone else commented.
"My husband died on Thanksgiving last year. I can say it now, but I still really can't believe it. He left in an ambulance and I never saw him again. There was no funeral or memorial service because of Covid and it still does not seem real. I am glad I can come here to see familiar faces," someone else added eliciting comments of support and sympathy from everyone in earshot. Most of us stopped breathing for a moment as she shared her story.
On the way home, my newfound bravery was replaced with a reality that Covid has impacted us all - even if we have been lucky enough to survive. Just about everyone lost someone in their circle of family or friends. Just about everyone's family and friend relationships have been strained. Just about everyone has scars that are raw and painful. The emotional, economical, and societal scars of Covid are real and raw.....21 months after it first altered the course of our lives. Like all life changing events, if we are lucky, we will be survivors with Covid scars.
5 comments:
In the school the specter of Covid has never left us. The risks, the testing, the remains of plexiglass shields, the ever-present masks... and risks make the presence of this all to real. I often consider what the other side of this might be like, if there ever really is another side. I haven't been to the mall or to a restaurant for such a long time. I am glad that your little troop is moving on despite their battle scars. May we all continue to thrive.
The way that you let us in to these intimate conversations, the stories of small and large losses, is so effective. It's an unusual sort of coincidence that I wrote about scars today as well; though, the scars that I mentioned are all superficial while this is deep and likely to last into many years. Thank you so much for sharing this slice.
Thank-you for your brave post. I am with 8 year olds, and have also returned to the gym. It's almost like a science fiction movie- although it's painfully real.
These scars are so real. The after-effects of this virus are enormous. Also, there are many that are still unknown to us since we're barely at the two-year anniversary ofthe pandemic.
I don't know how I got to this particular post, but I needed to read it this morning as I avoid going to church one more Sunday waiting on the numbers to trend down in our area. COVID scars are so real, so fresh. I work as a literacy coach in a public school of 500+ students, and I see the collateral damage this virus, this pandemic, has caused our faculty, staff, students, and families. Your post made me cry, but that was cathartic, and I thank you for sharing this with the world. We can all hope that we will survive with scars.
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