Too long.
Too negative.
Sunday, I checked in with some of “my people” and heard these two concerns about Steve’s Stay-at-Home Coronavirus Quiz.
Betsy, my youngest daughter, told me she skims the quiz. Too much and too depressing--but keep writing if it helps you.
For Ted, my son, the bittersweet is too much. “The world needs pure happiness not bittersweet happiness.”
Annie, my daughter, is a psychiatric social worker at Elmhurst Hospital in Queens. She made a point of telling me Friday that I did not need to mention this fact in every quiz--and I did not for the next few quizzes sent out over the weekend and Monday.
Why do I mention the work of Annie and Erica, my daughter-in-law, who is an ICU nurse in suburban Michigan so often?
In part, it’s pride. In part, it’s worry. And, if I’m being honest, in part, it’s guilt and shame--not about them but about me.
I’m writing “Steve’s Stay-at-Home Coronavirus Quiz” because I am staying at home, working from home in the evening and not commuting so I have extra time in the morning and nothing to do--and I need this daily diatribe of distraction to keep me from climbing the walls. I’m still working and I know I am lucky--compared to the people who are not--and especially compared to those who are working on the front lines.
It’s hard to be a parent and to be separated from your children and grandchildren at this time--especially since Erica and Annie are on the front lines. Every few weeks, Sara and I order Annie some Diet Coke from Amazon Pantry as a pick-me up. The orders are always backlogged so, like the coronavirus itself, they have their own delayed timeline. We placed the first order on April 6th and it arrived on April 14th. That day, we placed the next order and just got word today, Monday, April 27th, that it’s shipped and should be there by the end of this week. Sunday, before calling Annie, I placed our third order. I always try to pick out some extra treats to fill out the order--and this week, I was happy to discover they finally had Cheez-Its in stock. These are Annie’s favorite snack. I told Annie that Cheez-Its would be in the third order, set for delivery by next Monday, May 4th. She told me it was something to look forward to--and we could all use that nowadays.
The third order from Amazon Pantry with Cheez-Its finally in stock
This led Annie to tell me Sunday that one thing that’s helped her since this whole mess started was to write down 3 positive things that happened to her each day. She said it helped her to always be on the lookout for something good that might happen to add to the list.
I asked if I'd ever made the list. She told me she’d have to check. Ouch.
She said keeping the list had really helped her. She told me a story (on the record) about something that happens at Elmhurst. Whenever a patient gets taken off a ventilator, they play the Rocky theme song over the hospital intercom. She said if people at the epicenter of the epicenter can find hope in all this, then so can I.
This morning, I texted Annie at the start of her work day. “It’s 9:05am. Do you know where your father is?” I also asked if my telling her about the promise of Cheez-Its had made it to her list from Sunday. She said it had. I thanked her--and told her that I needed that.
What did not happen?
A. On the lookout for good things today, I walked Happy the dog this morning. Last week, she found a lacrosse ball on our walk across the field by the school near our house and had fun carrying it around. This morning, I got out a longer leash with the thought of throwing the ball and letting her chase it. (She really can’t be trusted off-leash.) She loved it--and soon found a second lacrosse ball which was a very good thing. She’s not a retriever and not the smartest dog we’ve ever owned. When I threw the ball and she chased it, she ran with abandon to scoop it up and put it in her mouth--but then she didn’t know what to do. She’d look back at me as if to say: what next? When she found the second ball, the problem was solved. Throw ball #1, chase ball #1, get ball #1; throw ball #2, chase ball #2, get ball #2; etc.;
B. When I took out the recycling, a car passed with wrap-around advertising all over it for Maritime College. That’s the name of the college where my father went to school--though he called it Fort Schuyler. I was happy to think of him, just taking out the trash;
C. I’ve been worried my blood pressure’s getting a little high so I called my cardiologist this morning. I spoke to the nurse and she asked me if I had a blood pressure cuff at home. I told her that I didn’t--but then remembered I had bought one several years ago. After I got off the phone, I asked Sara if she’d seen it around. She had not. I went into the attic, found a tub with wires, extension cords and odd devices--including the blood pressure cuff that I’d forgotten about. Finding it made me happy;
D. Sara made bread this weekend and today at lunch I had the greatest grilled cheese sandwich of my life. Beyond the bread, I used shredded cheese. It fell off the bread during grilling, coating the outside edge of the sandwich with a crust of slightly charred cheddar cheese;
E. I ordered some electric hair clippers from Amazon. They arrived today. Even the prospect of a haircut is enough to make me happy.
Want the answer?
Answer #39. Short and Sweet, April 27, 2020
If you’re a subscriber, the answer will be sent to you as a separate email when the question is published.
Editor’s Note:
My apologies to Erica, Ted and Turner. In the emailed version of Quiz #38. Suspended, Turner’s birthday was incorrectly listed as October 5, 2018. She was born on October 5, 2017.
Want more?
Here’s the next quiz in the series: Quiz #40. The Pursuit of Happiness.
Here’s the next quiz in the series: Quiz #38. Suspended.
Here’s the first quiz in the series: Quiz #1. Stella and Social Distancing, March 13, 2020
Here is an archive of all the quizzes.
The quiz is explained here: Steve’s Stay-at-Home Coronavirus Quiz.
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