Читать книгу Let them all tell you what happened - Mercedes Pescador - Страница 12

As someone with a rocky health history, when my non-American friends began entering lockdown, I stocked up on essentials and switched to working from home – before the stay-at-home orders from our state governor, before my country understood and hoarders cleared out stores, before businesses were forced to close.

Like so many others, my full-time job reduced my hours because of the pandemic and I am facing an uncertain financial future. Even while I grieve the loss of income stability, I am grateful I still have insurance, that I had a second job, that my second job was able to pick up my extra availability, and that both jobs can be done from home. As the economy crumbles around the world and stocks plummet, who knows what will happen with the job market. Yet my loss is nothing compared to what others are facing because of this virus.

On Easter Sunday, two friends in two different parts of the country lost their fathers to COVID, while a third friend lost her mother. As someone whose parents have already passed, it’s never easy to welcome others into the dead-parent-club. My heart aches for their losses.

Where I live now, no one I know has been affected by the virus.

Living on the outskirts of a deserted college town in Oregon, USA during COVID has its perks. We’re a poster-child community who took early action and has done well practicing proper social distancing. I’m surrounded by quiet country roads and crisp cool smells of spring blossoms.

It’s not been a lonely time, what with shelter-in-place friends upstairs, a sprawling backyard with a hen who loves hugs, and two cats vying for attention.

Instead of going to the market, I now buy my food directly from a farmer about 5 miles away. Coming up with seasonal farm-to-table gourmet meals has become a special kind of passion for me. This week my farmer friend tucked a pint of strawberries, first of the year, in my basket – a delicious treasure trove of juicy ruby gems to share with my quarantine crew.

It has always worked out in the past, so I trust it’ll be the same this time.