Some day, I hope, this blog will be about more than this seemingly endless pandemic. Unfortunately, it’s infiltrated our day-to-day lives and shows no sign of letting up. From mask requirements to governmental vaccine mandates, to hospitalization/death stats on the news, there’s just no escaping it.
And yet, life does go on. Kids go back to school. Offices are opening to staff again. Broadway musicals are starting up. Sports events are taking place. College classes are no longer remote. It seems to me that more and more people I know, even the most anxious, have decided to leave the safety of their pandemic bubble.
In our household, we have all slowly increased our outside activities, even if it’s less than it used to be. Joe and I went on a New York wine country trip with friends a few weeks ago. It was drivable for us, luckily, since I’m not ready to fly. Our older child is back at grad school, and you can bet when she comes home I’m not planning to lock her in her bedroom. Last weekend Joe, my younger child and I attended (they performed) at a local musical benefit. And Joe and I went to a major league baseball game on Sunday.
A lot of this would have been unthinkable in the spring, even after we all received our vaccines. But it reaches a point, I guess, where it feels like you have to trust our medicine and procedures, while still being cautious because of the real threat of breakthrough infections. I think this is a new development, for me at least, to be cautious but learn to live with the risk. Joe went to a very crowded concert a few weeks ago, and I had to live with him even without knowing if he was infection free.
Sadly, this virus shows no sign of letting up, but life needs to get back to normal. For some people it’s going to be business as usual, with or without the vaccine. Some of us will be more careful. But I can’t think of a single person I know, even the most anxious/cautious, that remains in lockdown. We are all learning to make peace with uncertainty, choose our risks, take our precautions, and pray for a good outcome.
Donna Pilato 
The virus isn’t going anywhere so our challenge is to decide how much risk we are willing to take. For some of us and I’m one of them, a whole year of lockdown, delivered groceries, no family in- person visits, etc., etc. Is enough. I will cautiously go about my ‘normal’ life trusting, to a degree, the vaccine I have received. Masking will still be a part of my ‘normal’ life !
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When it’s your, time…it’s your time. Until then…enjoy. What’s life for???
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This is a more complex time in the pandemic, in which each activity requires a certain amount of judgment. Do I trust my vaccine? Is this a place I should wear a mask? Are the people around me vaccinated? Showing signs of illness? I wonder how much of a difference boosters will make in our collective comfort in dealing with background risk…
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Amy, in my opinion I don’t think boosters will make much of a difference over the long haul. Once another variant shows up, or the booster wears off, we’ll be back to where we started. I just think we have to make peace with it as things are now, and hope that at least the precautions we take, and the vaccines we’ve received, keep us from long term harm from this pandemic.
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