So I found myself in the emergency room yesterday, my left leg deciding to take a different path down a ski slope than the rest of my body. Thankfully, the damage appears minimal, a calf muscle that will bark at me for some time and a slight bruising of the ego. But that is not the real focus of this tale.
Among those to address my situation was a young woman, possibly a nurse (a few people examined me in rapid succession, their particular titles not being given). In the course of our conversation, I inquired as to whether she had received her "shot."
"I am not getting it" she replied. "I am being cautious." She had been offered the opportunity and had simply refused.
We have lived through the most terrible, tragic, tumultuous year this nation has had certainly since the end of the second World War, three quarters of a century ago. Death and suffering our constant companion, nowhere more evident than in emergency rooms such as this around the country, that have been battered and beaten, workers exhausted physically and emotionally. The hope of an effective vaccine our solace, especially in the face of a President who has only taken actions to amplify our pain.
I must confess to being jealous of those who have been inoculated. I am jealous of those who stand in line before me. I so much want to be the next one whose name is called.
But I will wait my turn, with as much patience as I can muster. I will send congratulations to those who can feel the breath returning to their lungs and their lives. I can only imagine their joy and relief.
And I know that each person who takes on that immunity is a benefit to all of us. In time we will be able to open our businesses, to break the shackles of fear that constrain us. One day we will hug again. One day we will live mostly as before, never more the same, but certainly not like this.
I wanted to say all this to the young mother of two, this woman who helped me in my hour of need. But I merely thanked her for attention and wished her a joyous holiday.
I walked out of that emergency room focused not on my minor mishap, but on having come face to face with the choices we make in our lives.
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2 comments:
Next time you go skiing, check the birth date on your certificate
Lois
What put me over the edge to get the shot was a doctor I heard somewhere. VPR probably. He pointed out that they have been working on coronavirus vaccines for years. All we needed for this one is to figure out the strain and how to inoculate for it. They, whoever they is, should get that message out. But I wish every MAGA would fear it and get the disease. It annoys me to no end to see people like Rubio jump the line.
P
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