Coronavirus Diary Day 127: July 17, 2020

Coronavirus is Knocking at the Door

 

Let’s address the elephant in my room. For the first 3 months of lockdown, my 18-year-old son was strictly quarantined. Which is well documented in this blog. Even after his friends’ parents slowly began releasing their children back into the wild, I was that one mom who said ummmm, no-goshdarn-way. Ryan, to his credit, was cool with that. I mean, he hated it, but he never argued with me.

 

Flash forward to present day. I no longer keep Ryan under my thumb. He has proven himself to be a responsible, thoughtful human who appreciates social interactions. Also, his youth. Right now, keeping him away from his friends is much more detrimental than 100% protecting him from contracting COVID-19, a disease which would have very little impact on him, according to statistics.

 

Unless his parents – or worse, his grandparents – would contract it from him. That would be extremely impactful, but I digress.

 

Anyways, the elephant is this: At least a dozen of Ryan’s classmates have tested positive for COVID-19 in the past week. These are kids with whom Ryan regularly interacts, not his core group of friends, mind you, but friends of friends. Oh, and the little sister of a friend, too.

 

Way back in the Spring, Ryan’s high school postponed graduation to July 21. It would be held outdoors on the football field with zero guests. By zero, that meant, not even parents.

 

Whelp, yesterday we received the news that graduation is officially cancelled.

 

I’m not gonna lie. I was pissed when I heard this news. But you guys, at least a dozen of Ryan’s classmates have tested positive for COVID-19 in the past week. Almost all of them are asymptomatic, meaning the only reason they know they are positive is because they tested positive. And the only reason they tested at all is because they knew they’d been exposed to the virus. (I won’t reveal how they knew that, but I actually do know how.) Undoubtedly, countless others were also exposed and presumed positive, albeit asymptomatic.

 

I have no problem with asymptomatic teenagers who are living their best lives. Except, well, they live with their parents.

 

So, here we are with the elephant in my room. What are the chances Ryan has Coronavirus? If I were a betting man, I’d say 50-50. He says 80-20. He approached me – at a distance of more than 6 feet – to propose that we no longer spend any amount of face-to-face time together. He refuses to attend his nephew’s 3rd birthday party tomorrow.

 

Ryan is taking a COVID-19 test in the morning. Merde! Coronavirus is knocking at my door.

 

What’s worse? Ryan is scheduled to visit his brother in Florida, July 29 – August 2. Florida is a hotbed for Coronavirus right now. Also, his brother is active military. This trip has already been postponed twice on account of Coronavirus. We have so many things to consider.





 

Will I get Coronavirus? Will The Hubs also get Coronavirus? Might we already have it, and could we give it to my parents at my nephew’s 3rd birthday party tomorrow? One thing I can say for sure: I am not hugging my mom or dad. They’ll both roll their eyes at me. They kinda think this whole thing is a hoax, and who can blame them? They’re in their mid-70s. Every day is numbered, and they don’t intend on counting them from their backyard (although, that’s exactly what they’ve been doing).

 

It comes down to masks, I guess. I hate masks. But, it’s like believing in God, because she’s probably not real, either. What’s the harm in believing? Will you be embarrassed that you believed, after you die and you’re nothing more than a corpse in the ground? Will you think, darnnit, I told all my friends I believed in God and I was wrong. Or will you just be dead?

 

Bestie! #thanksclassof2020 on my tombstone. (Please don’t forget my Elvis tattoo.) *And anything with syrup.*

 

Anyways, do the right thing, OK? So many cute masks on Etsy rn.

 

This blog post is brought to you by Italics, the Oppressed Hero of English Grammar. (“Hear me, dammit! I’m serious.”)

Comments

  1. I got you. Viva la Italics! And sometimes I am not sure if I am actually posting twice. Sorry...

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