Pandemics have impacts

 I will admit it. I have struggled with this pandemic. I live by myself, with two rescue dogs and the absence of human contact has been rough on me. I am a creature of social habit. I like being around people. Not big crowds, but little ones or even one on one. 

I hate death. I think we all do. That is one of the strongest worries with this pandemic. Death. Losing people you love simply because of a virus which impacts different people, different ways. I have seen people poo poo masks away because their best friend's second cousin's first wife's uncle got it. He had a little cold and was back to work in a few days. No need to mask up or social distance. It will be over in a few days and all will be back to normal. I have a right not to wear a mask. I have a right to attend huge parties with no thought of who might be impacted. I have a right. Do you?

The problem is that it does kill people. They die. Alone, without friends or family because they are in isolation. You had a right and what did you do with it? Who did you come in contact with? Who's grandmother? Who's child? Whose father? We seem to have become such a selfish nation of people. Was I that selfish when I was younger? Did I worry about others when old age was not creeping in so fast?

I lost my Uncle Charlie last Thursday to Covid-19. He was very special. He was the uncle we all grew up with that was fun. He was always up for a challenge from the kids. I remember counting his ribs when I was a little girl because he was so skinny. He was always the uncle who took us on the rides at the fair that our parents would never ride. He was always there, he and my Aunt Linda, if we ever needed anything. 

He was born in West Virginia, the son of a coal miner. He came from a very large family and moved to Florida when he was a teenager. He saw my Aunt Linda throw a coke on her then boyfriend, Paul, at the local drive in. He told his brother, "I am going to marry that little girl over there." So he did. On the night before he shipped out to Paris after joining the Army, my Aunt jokingly painted his toenails. Imagine what happened when he was sitting on the upper bunk of the troop ship with no shoes and socks on. He never lived that one down.

He gave us wonderful French chocolate the year we spent Christmas with them in Paris and gave us a tour of the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre. I was 6. The memories are plentiful and to list them all would take a while. 

On Tuesday he will be laid to rest and able to join my Aunt Linda. He missed her so after she was gone. I will miss him terribly. I hate this pandemic and I hate death. 

I am disgusted with the people who still disdain masks and social distancing. I hope you never lose a loved one because of someone else's selfishness.