COVID-19 giveth... and it taketh away

It is the weekend and I am alone, sitting at my desk, my emotions ricocheting between anger and selfpity. While the rest of my family is watching my granddaughter dance in “The Nutcracker Ballet” in one of the leading roles, I am here, dodging the latest iteration of the pandemic, now entering its third year in our country.

Oh yes! I am fully vaccinated and “boostered.” I wear a mask anytime a non-family member comes into our house and any time I am required to go out into the world. However, I also am a senior citizen with compromised immunity, which translates into avoiding inside crowds -- like restaurants, theatres and churches.

When the pandemic began and my family hunkered down here at home, initially we all enjoyed the togetherness of being quarantined and only leaving home for essential trips. But, as time wore on, we began to realize the price COVID-19 was extracting from all of us.

Not being able to see or gather with friends was one of the pandemic’s biggest thefts from our family. We also opted to attend religious services by Zoom, which was a gift to the adults in our household, but not so much for the middle-schoolers and the high school senior in our family. The kids missed their friends in youth group and who could blame them, attending classes online and continuing their home confinement?

Our college kid took online classes, too, but opted to stay in her apartment on campus to do so. However, this certainly didn’t make up for the Spanish immersion month she would miss in Mexico or the opportunity to teach English-as-a-second-language during a summer in Morocco, which would have fulfilled a lifelong dream.

We take off our hats to DSISD for making every effort to offer senior activities to their graduates in the class of 2020 but even with all their effort, prom and commencement wasn’t the same…and neither was our grad’s freshman year at A&M. Classes were mainly online, masks were part of the Corp’s uniform and quarantines happened every time a cadet living on the same floor of the dorm tested positive…and thanks to the university’s vigilance and constant testing, when my grandson tested positive, the school took great care of him, his roommate and his fellow cadets.

Another COVID theft occurred last summer, when my youngest granddaughter was accepted to the Royal Ballet of London’s program and, because of the UK’s heath restrictions, the program was cancelled and another opportunity was taken away, not only from our ballerina but also her parents who planned to accompany her.

My youngest grandson’s freshman year also was affected by activities either being modified or cancelled. On the debate team for the first time, every one of his debate tournaments were virtual as was the debate camp at UT he earned a scholarship to attend… and as a member of the DSHS tennis team, his tournament schedule had to be modified.

For me, the greatest sacrifice was being unable to attend my granddaughter’s wedding in September. Fortunately, I was able to watch the live stream, along with family members in other states, but of course, it wasn’t the same.

I want to say here how much I appreciate radio station KDRP for broadcasting the football games we couldn’t attend, Netflix for providing movies during the time our community was without a theater and this newspaper continuing to bring us the news of our town and providing the “glue” that kept us connected.

But, if I sound apologetic, I definitely am because, unlike too many families, I realize we have been fortunate in that COVID-19 did not take the life of anyone in our immediate or extended family. Yes, we did lose a loved one this past year, but his death was almost expected although nobody is ever prepared for the inevitable end and the pain of that loss that follows.

All of this to say, as a family we have accepted most of what COVID has taken away with all the grace we could humanly muster. We know we have been blessed in many other ways, and we are grateful for these blessings. Years from now, we probably won’t remember all the trips, experiences and opportunities COVID and its variants have snatched from our lives during the past two years.

However, as we move into year three of the pandemic, we invite everyone to join us in prayer for the end of the pandemic, the losses that it brings and the pain it inflicts on every being it touches. We have shown resilience and have been tested in so many ways. So, we pray for continued strength, patience and understanding among everyone on this journey and when the end of the pandemic comes, let us not forget, as we rejoice, all of those we lost as well as all who did so much to help us get through it.