The smoke detector screeched and the security system hollered. I jumped up and punched the code on the alarm as my husband started opening doors and windows. Conley and her friend started laughing and running around, pumped up and excited by the commotion.
I had disarmed the alarm in a matter of seconds and the security system representative didn’t buzz through asking if we were ok. Therefore, I thought that everything was fine.
However, I soon heard the fire truck sirens. I told myself that I was overreacting. Those sirens weren’t heading to my house. As the blaring warnings got closer and closer, I had to accept that a fire truck would soon come to a hard stop outside of my smoky house.
As my daughter and her friend recorded every second of the action, I had to sheepishly slink outside and tell the fire department that we were just searing some steaks – that everything was fine.
After the fire truck sped off, we sat around the dinner table laughing about how only we could manage to get the fire department called during a global pandemic. As I cleaned up our dishes, I started thinking about how fortunate my family and I are right now.
I know that may sound absurd to say while we face an unprecedented event that is fraught not only with stress, anxiety and uncertainty about the interruptions of our daily lives and our financial security, but also with the very real chance that we or someone we love can get sick and even die from something that was unknown a few months ago.
Yet, this is our new reality. There is no amount of whining or pouting or denying that is going to change that. Trust me, if it could I would devote all of my energy to whining, pouting and denying.
I realized that we are fortunate because we have a warm or cool house (depending on what season North Carolina is having that day) filled with comfortable furniture and people who generally get on very well with each other. And, although I didn’t panic buy anything but coffee, my home has plenty of food for my small family. When online school starts, we have wi-fi and devices for our daughter to complete her assignments. Until her assignments start, I feel fortunate that she is surrounded by books, art supplies and board games to nourish her mind in other ways. Granted, I am scared to look at our 401k’s and our daughter’s college fund, but again, I realize that we are fortunate to have them in the first place.
Now, don’t get me wrong, there are many aspects of this “new normal” that terrifies me and others that just make me sad. I had a friend who had to postpone her mother’s celebration of life service and another who had to postpone her wedding. My heart breaks for both of them. One of my best friends is a nurse and I worry about her risk of exposure every day.
My grandmother and my husband’s grandparents are nearing 90 and I don’t want them to even think about leaving their homes, but I fear that after all they have lived through, all that they have seen, that simply going to a doctor’s appointment or the grocery store, will be the end of them. As for me, my friends have always been my lifeline and I am going to miss the nearness of them. Furthermore, not going to my gym feels like being kicked in the stomach. It is my community.
However, despite all of this, I remember that we are fortunate. I am fortunate because I have lived through times that while I was in the midst of them, felt certain that they would pull me apart at the seams. I’ve thought about how stressed I would have been had this happened when I was my daughter’s age. I would have been one of the kids who desperately missed her free school lunch. I would have fallen behind because I would not have had the technology nor the parental support to thrive under these circumstances. I would have been left in charge of my brother and sister, while my grandmother braved working in retail.
I am also fortunate because no one in my family has compromised immunity. Even if we were to be infected with COVID-19, we most likely would be fine. But, see, this isn’t just about me. It’s about all of us. This is new for all of us. Essentially, we’re being asked to “Netflix and chill” for a a few weeks. For most of it is just going to be an irritating inconvenience.
Sure, it’s going to get old. We’re going to get on each other’s nerves. I will most certainly have an emotional break or two. It’s not going to be easy now. It’s going to be a different kind of hard afterwards. But, I have faith that if we remember our humanity, if we remember that we are all in this together, we can get through it. As the fire truck gets closer and closer to your house, anxiety is going to rise. Just remember that we can help get this wild burning fire under control.
Stay inside. Love your people. Support your community. Listen to the science.
This is our responsibility. And, we’re fortunate to have it.
Not everyone does. And, even less will.
This article was written by a guest blogger. The opinions expressed here are those of the writer and do not reflect the opinions of Bob Lacey, Sheri Lynch or the Bob & Sheri show.
Soshally Awkward
Sosha Lewis is a writer whose work has been featured in The Washington Post, Huffington Post, MUTHA Magazine and The Charlotte Observer. She writes about her sometimes wild, sometimes hilarious, sometimes heartbreaking past filled with free-lunches, a grimy sports bar, a six foot tall Albino woman who tried to save her teenage soul, felonious, drug addicted parents, an imaginary friend named Blueberry and growing up nestled in the coal-dusted mountains of West Virginia.
