At 8:35 a.m. Friday I receive my first COVID dose.
"Done!" the nurse said.
"Are you sure?" I asked. I had felt nothing.
The next day when I pressed the shot spot, I could feel a slight tenderness. Otherwise, Dose #1 was a glorious non-event.
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My mother-in-law Janet (pronounced the Danish way, Jeanette) received her first Covid vaccine alongside me. The night before, she waffled: maybe it was too cold to go outside. I refused to take no for an answer. I would drive her to town (in a warmed car) I explained, and Dan would follow in his (warmed) pickup and take her home as I proceeded to school.
Janet is, at 91, sharper than many of us in our 60s and 70s. But she is sensitive to the societal ageism that diminishes her intelligence and value. Many people she encounters expect her to be confused, forgetful, or befuddled, and these expectations then cause her anxiety. Will people judge her every question or smallest misstep as evidence of an "old" person, ready for the boneyard?
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On Friday, Janet was a winner. She pushed back her fear of the cold, her fear of the vaccine, and her fear of interacting with the public during the pandemic. She got the vaccine.
By evening time, she said she felt "an awareness" of her vaccination spot as she reached for a can on a shelf but nothing more.
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It's Monday evening now. Last night, with cold-weather warnings closing schools, we moved Janet into our basement, where my own parents lived for nearly five months at the onset of the pandemic.
Janet's farmhouse, a mile from ours, is more than 100 years old. We protected her north windows with plastic wrap in October, but the house is a skeleton: It's just too hard to keep it warm in -20 temps.
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So yep! I have a new nonagenarian in my basement! We both mask up when I come down to deliver meals, conversation, or accordion practice.
She has her laptop, logged on to our Wifi.
She's mending Dan's shirt and doing her own laundry.
She's read two books since she arrived yesterday.
I'm joyfully surprised at how familiar it is for me to create a well-balanced meal tray and deliver it with Valentine chocolates or a pretty napkin to make my basement guest feel welcome.
Enough.
Be well.
Write.
Allison
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| Look who's 7 months old! <3 Wolf! |
Congrats on your first shot and kudos to Janet, too. I'm sure she'll thrive while she's living in your basement. And look at Wolf, seven months old already!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Ramona! This has been such a strange year. Wolf now has FOUR teeth and can almost sit up on his own volition. Wishing you well.
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