Every day life has changed amid COVID-19. Death lurks on every strange doorknob, in the breath of strangers who are unsociably distant, on the buttons of the elevator, and, unknowingly, amidst our own relatives. Death rules all television news, radio talk shows, and the newspaper. Death is possibly imminent. I, however, choose to ignore the seriousness of this pandemic or my mind would explode with anxiety. To survive, I concentrate on the mundane issues.

While at first it felt very awkward and silly, wearing a mask is now part of my wardrobe. In the beginning, my masks matched my outfits. They were stylish and cleverly styled. I even had some masks with the mouth cut-out with plastic to wear when around my daughter, Marie, and her friend who are deaf. Time has passed. The other three people in my house have quietly absconded with my mask stash and now I am lucky if I can find a stray mask on the floor of the car. Embarrassed, I had to wear that stray mask, one of the original, blue, paper masks, to a meeting the other day. It had a partial footprint across the bridge of the nose, and a small tea stain at the bottom. It was hideous! However, it was necessary. (I quickly replenished my mask supply.)

There are several other aggravations of mine related to COVID-19. I greatly miss going to Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun. I am not a gambler, per se, although a few twenty-dollar bills have been known to find their way into the slot machines. Bidding the minimum bet on each machine guarantees a delightful afternoon of rolling dials and matching symbols. Even though betting the minimum assures winning the minimum, it is still great fun. The biggest draw of the casinos was the lavish buffets! Hubby and I would get in for the inexpensive breakfast buffet at 10:45 and feast on plump omelets filled with our favorite ingredients. Sitting and chilling afterwards, we would drink coffee and tea and watch while they put the prime rib and other luncheon fare, which would soon turn into our after-breakfast snack. Oh … I miss those buffets!

It is not a very sociable world where I have to attend meetings by ZOOM. After all of this time, there are still people who do not know how to use this program, and everyone has to wait while they figure out how to turn on the camera or turn off their microphone so that their barking dogs do not interfere with the meeting. I used to be one of those people, but it is now a mastered skill of mine. While these meetings are satisfactory to conduct business, they are sorely lacking in the socialization aspect, which is why I had joined several organizations in the first place!

Not being able to hang out with family and friends is the biggest challenge of this pandemic. Hubby’s family is very large and very close, getting together for holidays as an ever-growing group with many nieces and nephews having children of their own. Plans for future holidays, including Big Sandwich Day* celebrated on January 1st, are on hold for now. (*Hubby’s large family has always gotten together on New Year’s Day to celebrate the holidays. This event originally started out with the meal consisting of a 6 foot long “big sandwich” from Subway, thus originating its name. Most of our children and grandchildren think it is real holiday, and last year my grandson asked his friends what presents they got for Big Sandwich Day.)

Wearing masks. No buffets. No in-person meetings. No family celebrations. Living through COVID-19 has been and will continue to be a challenge. However, we need to celebrate the fact that we are alive! We are keeping safe! It will not last forever! Perhaps in 2022 we will be able to celebrate Big Sandwich Day again.