I’ve wanted to write about ‘the virus’ for some time now. But what to say? I don’t know enough science to give you any information that can’t be found on line, and I’m so bad at math that the stats go over my head unless someone explains them to me. Since my husband’s liver transplant and his arrival Dec.26th at home we have had to use tight sanitary protocols, not sterile, but close. I’m already stocked up on hand sanitizer, TP, PTs, Clorox wipes, gloves, masks, you name it, we have it. We have had to avoid crowds, restaurants, movies and the like anyway. And just as our restrictions were opening up, BOOM! We are back to what for us has been the last three months.
Any woman will tell you she loves her husband, but being sequestered with an ornery man for that long will test the limits of anyone’s marriage and patience. I always heard the jokes about retirement and never really thought too much about them until now. Well, he retired and got sequestered all in one day… He took over the entire household. The TV in the family room connects to our kitchen in kind of a great room. I’m trying to cook and do nourishing energetically healthy things for him while the annoying sound track of TV programs like “Shameless” and live action cops of Alaska play loudly in the background of my daily life… When I had finally had enough, I bought JV ear buds. Those things saved his life. Really. Gotta love amazon.
Anyway, the house used to run on such a glorious schedule, everything being done before he walked in from work, house cleaning and the like, grocery shopping, meal prepping, me writing my occasional article, listening to pod casts while I vacuumed and did laundry… it was calm, ordered and chugging right along.
Yeah, three months ago that all exploded. However we have learned to deal with each other, how to stay out of each other’s back pocket, how to be more than bickering children to each other when we were upset by giving the other some breathing space, you know, normal stuff that nobody practices in the world anymore because the world doesn’t give us any time to really be with each other. We are already in the groove. It took some work, but now it is worth it. I remember back in 70’s on weekends when it used to be this way at home with my parents, before cell phones and before computers. How quickly we have forgotten how to be with other people, even those we love. With things the way they currently are, we are getting a chance to remember how to do this again.
Including our dogs. Like taking a walk with your dog while not looking at your cell phone, paying attention to the world around you and experiencing it with your dog as you walk, having a quiet conversation with your dog… they do listen. They love mental pictures by the way, if you don’t believe me send a picture of a dog treat to your dog and be ready to give him that treat, just saying. And if you’re not too full of media, they will send you images with impulses to do stuff too…like feed them dinner.
And oh yeah, the only type of germ I couldn’t protect against when my husband came home were Dog Germs. He was immediately slobbered to death, 5 days after a liver transplant. They never left his side until he was out of his worst pain. They did as much towards healing him and making him feel better as I did, maybe even more because, Dog Love, Dog Germs and all.
In the Mind's Eye 