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Tough time to be a Pollyanna



Remember when 9/11 was just a date or a number you called in an emergency? Our lives changed dramatically post 9/11. For weeks after that September day, we seemed to walk around in a fog, like the haze that loomed over the now-fallen twin towers. I remember trying to minimize my obsession with the news, trying to keep the three little Piggins away from the enormity of the disaster.

Remember when corona was simply a beer best served with a lime wedge? It now and forever will be instead associated with this virus that has upended our world in ways we could never have imagined. This tiny little, microscopic virus has brought the mighty to their knees. It has us quarantined and distancing socially (though I believe we've been doing this emotionally for years) and working from home. As anxiety peaks, our economy tanks. As toilet paper and hand sanitizer flies off the shelves, we are looking for new ways to stock our pantries. A good friend observed, "I never thought I'd see the day when buying toilet paper was more difficult than buying pot,"! 

I am on day six of quarantine. I've not seen anyone but my husband and dog. My children are on the east side of the state - Delaney drove from St. Louis to be with Michael and Carmen and Matthew is holed up in his dorm at UofM Law. Originally we thought they might come home; I imagined an extended snow day where we would bake cookies, binge watch some show, play games and make a holy mess and mounds of laundry. But the three not-so-little Piggins talked as Delaney was driving north and decided that it would be best not to potentially  expose me, with my MS, and John, with his heart issues. Both conditions put us in the immune compromised category.

 Today, I will  do more exercise than the diddly squat I've been doing. I feel like a slug. That may be inaccurate because I think I slug moves more. 

Have a great shelter in place day!

#msadvocate
#coronalime
#tomorrowisanotherday

Comments

It's not a popularity contest, but ...

Rolling, Rolling, Rolling

I put my pride aside and got my ass off the grass and into the wheelchair. {I spent a couple minutes deciding whether to put an exclamation mark after that declaration or to put the period after that statement. I think the period better suits my mood about getting said ass into the wheelchair!} On July 4, Saugatuck has a wonderfully unique parade that includes quirky participants like the artsy-fartsy campers at OxBow art colony and the LGBT members of a local foundation along with the more traditional participants like Girl Scouts, fire trucks, and local politicians. It had been a couple years since I had been to the parade, this year, though, my Mom and sister were in town and I wanted to take them. So we loaded up in the van, including Kerri's wheelchair and my own. Once we parked, John asked if I wanted to use my chair and I initially balked but then remembered that it can be a long, hot parade and it might be better to have a place to sit. So, I acquiesced and took the cha...

Fairy Tales

What do London Bridge, Humpty Dumpty, The Three Little Pigs and Kathleen Piggins have in common? They all fall down!  Well with the Three Little Pigs it's not the pigs that fall but the house but I have three not-so-little Piggins and it just seemed appropos to include that fairy tale here! Because this is a tale about falling down. But it's also about getting back up! At last night's Douglas Social  my friend Kris and I meandered through the crowd greeting and often hugging friends along the way to the beer/wine tent - I spotted a friend that recently moved to the area and went to give her a big hug. and after proceeded to fall flat on my arse. Time seemed to stop and it felt that the all eyes in the crowd were on me as I landed and then proceeded to get back up with the help of friends. One of the saddest part of the fall, was that I had just gotten my first glass of wine and it was now all over me.  I thought "Thank goodness I was drinking white". And t...

March Madness

The March on Washington was one of the most powerful and positive experiences in my life - all 56 years of this life. And this post, I have to warn you, will be as disjointed as the March! I got to go with Matthew!! And we weren't sure if Delaney was going to be able to join us, but were thrilled that she could. She got to our hotel about 6:30 am having driven all night with two of her friends. After less than an hour, we all piled into the Subaru and began our trek through the complicated and congested DC highways and byways. After our drive Friday along the tollway through Ohio and Pennsylvania, where we encountered many many many others also going to DC and the March - I wasn't surprised by the traffic or the packed-to-the-gills Metro on Saturday morning. What did surprise me, however, was that once we got to within a mile of the March, there were more people than I had ever seen in one place. Okay so the last picture wasn't taken at the March - but it se...