When I was a child, I often expressed a desire for a future event to arrive. On Halloween, I would start looking forward to Christmas. On New Years Day, I would start looking forward to Easter Break. Then, I would look forward to summer vacation. (I never looked forward to anything during summer vacation.)

On those times when I uttered, “I wish it was…”, my mother would caution, “Don’t be wishing your life away.”

Her voice echoes in my mind when I now say, “I wish this coronavirus was over.”

But, I don’t think my mother would disagree with me on this wish.

We have gotten so used to COVID LIFE, and that’s the scary part. We have adapted to lockdowns and have adopted face masks, and we look askance at those who don’t follow these safeguards.

We willingly have distanced ourselves from friends and family to protect them and ourselves. We understand that we are at war, and, like Rosie the Rivetter in World War II, we have rolled up our sleeves and gotten to work to shut down this disease.

I am tired of reading stories about people who violently react to either being told to wear a mask or forcing others to do so. These accounts do not reflect my limited experience.

Yes, I have seen people who do not wear a mask. I stay away from them, not my job to confront irrationality. I am guessing that some of these unwilling participants in our national effort to eliminate the spread of this disease have additional issues that I don’t wish to witness.

But more importantly, there are many more who freely and willingly don the mask. It’s really not a big deal. It’s not a hazmat suit, though, that wouldn’t be a bad thing either.

To be fair, I don’t really go out much so I am not seeing too many people other than a few friends. I try to occupy myself with other activities to get me through the day that don’t involve COVID statistics or social distancing challenges or debates on sending kids back to school.

I write these posts as a way of dealing with my angst and loneliness for my children…and their dogs. When you are seventy years old, giving up a year of your life is not anything you will be able to get back.

I had to stop myself when I started typing because I was going to rant on about Oregon and the terrible things going on there. But I realized you don’t need me to write anything about that. It’s all over cable news and in the newspapers.

Better to focus on our experiences and challenges.

I just, “Wish this COVID thing were over.”