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Originally Posted by DeanFL
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...after reading your post, one phrase immediately came to mind - 'roll with the punches'. Life always presents those inevitable punches.
That's exactly what we've been doing since March. Life's not over, simply different. I do understand that it's easier for us to roll with those punches. Retired. Live in The Villages. Financially OK. Family settled and healthy. All healthy.
But the "rolling" included canceling plans, esp travel. Less activities. Less friends. Less entertainment out. Less fun.
The impact has been so great on so many worldwide. And it's not over. yet. We do have faith that medicines and healthcare have greatly improved since March. And that vaccines WILL be available within months. And that we will be inoculated in time NOT to get COVID.
So, until then, we will continue to roll with any punches that come our way. And live life to the fullest we can. period.
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Last night I had dinner at the home of my girlfriend’s brother and sister-in-law. Their dad died of the virus last month, and their mother nearly died, but has been negative for several weeks now, though her dementia is much worse.
The sister-in-law is in charge of phase three testing for the vaccine being worked on by Sanofi (I think it may also be working on it together with Glaxo-Smith-Kline, but I’m not certain). A month ago she was hopeful that the phase three testing would go fast, but it’s not. She thinks that if the Sanofi vaccine turns out to be safe enough to be approved and marketed, it is more likely to be at the end of 2021, rather than 2020, and she thinks that may be the case with some of the vaccines we are told are ready for approval. This is not some plot by any political party or a failure by a president. It’s just very difficult to run the trials and gather all the information, and a lot of the very promising vaccines may not work.
She says she assumes that most people will get COVID-19 eventually. However, she says it’s a lot better to get it now than it was six months ago, and it will be a lot better to get it in six months than it is now. More is known about treating it, and the treatments are improving, even without a vaccine. Most of the people who die will have other contributing factors, especially age, so their life-expectancy is limited anyway. (My girlfriend’s dad was 91 and had COPD and had had lots of stents put into his arteries, so his days were numbered in any case.)
As for people who catch this because they don’t follow the safety rules because they insist on their freedoms, think about the people who refuse to wear seatbelts because of their need for freedom, or the motorcycle riders or equestrians who don’t wear helmets and die much younger than they might otherwise have died. Maybe I’m lacking in empathy (well, actually, I am, for medical reasons), but I’ll be sorry they are gone, but I will certainly say, “They are sleeping in the bed they made for themselves.” It’s tough, though, if they also infect their loved ones, or the rest of us. Tough luck! Sorry, Charlie, but you’re the one who chose to bite that hook because you lack self-control.
So, I will continue to wear my mask and a new pair of gloves and—most important at all—keep my distance.
Imagine if we were told this virus will be with us from now on, and it will never get better, and what we have to do now is what we will have to do for the rest of our lives. What if you were told that? Would you be willing to be alive if you knew you would never again be able to eat in a crowded restaurant or drink in a packed bar or praise God in a crowded church or praise players in a crowded stadium or go to a movie or hug friends or go on a date? Well, of course, there are plenty of people with low immunity who are in that condition. I have a friend who had his immune system removed in order to stay alive, and he had to live in a “bubble” for a year. He treasures his life. He doesn’t think it’s better to die than wear a mask.
I keep thinking about what would happen as a result of a nuclear war. What if we had to change our way of living for decades or centuries because of radiation? Would some people declare that radiation isn’t real? Would they go out without masks or eat contaminated food? They can’t just declare themselves immune to radiation poisoning.