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From a Distance

This is Henry, my grandbaby. He’s seven-months-old and the happiest baby I’ve ever known. I’ve always heard how great it is to be a grandma, but never really grasped that concept until the first time this baby's smile melted my heart. 

I haven’t seen Henry or held him in a couple of weeks. When I texted my daughter to see how she’s doing, she simply responded with this picture. It truly made my week! This social-distancing thing is hard. Really hard! But I can’t imagine how it is for those who thrive on social interaction. I’m the type of person who likes and appreciates interaction with others, but I can do just as well staying home.

My daughter is a very social person. I know social-distancing is very difficult for her – probably one of the most difficult things she’s ever had to deal with. She’s even working from home, so she can’t even see or interact with co-workers right now. About a week ago we asked her not to come over for a few weeks. Knowing that people can be infected with the coronavirus for as much as a week or more and not know it is scary. This results in the disease spreading, even when those infected think that they are healthy. In efforts to reduce contact, we felt it was the right thing to do.

Since then, we’ve found out that someone from the arsenal, who works in a nearby building to Scott, was recently diagnosed with this illness. Fortunately, nobody who directly works with him has been diagnosed yet, but it’s gotten closer than we thought it would. I also found out today, during an online chat-session for one of my classes, that some of the family members of fellow students in this class have been dealing with or have just been diagnosed with the coronavirus. It’s getting closer to home. We’d like to think we’re just fine, but the truth is, we just don’t know.

Given these close-to-home encounters, I’m more confident that we made the right decision. That doesn’t make it an easy decision. I keep wanting to say, “Come on over. We’ll probably be fine. It’ll just be for a little while.” But if one of us or them were to have Covid-19 without obvious symptoms, that short visit is all it would take to spread it to the rest of us in that small group.

I miss my grandbaby. I miss my children, all of them. But for now, we’ll maintain social-distancing and find other ways to stay in touch. My daughter doesn’t have an iPhone, so we can’t Facetime, but we both have an app called Marco Polo where we can share videos with each other. We can talk on the phone or try sharing a virtual dinner through Google Hangouts. I’m sure there are other media we can use to interact with each other from a distance that we haven't discovered yet.

If someone who reads this is feeling the strain of isolation, know that you are not alone. Reach out to your friends and loved ones with a simple phone call or find other ways to interact. Keeping our distance right now will close the gap for how long the quarantine will last. In a few weeks I’ll hold my grandbaby again. In a few weeks I’ll hug my daughter tightly. I’ll be able to invite my entire family over to share a meal in person. In the meantime, stay healthy and know that you are loved – even from a distance!