So I am
a Generation X-er. Let me say that I love it! My little brother and I were,
are, part of the generation that on a weekend Mom would say “Go outside and
play” and we would. I have so many memories about growing up a PK (Pastor’s
Kid) in rural Maine. For example, Jonathan (my “little” brother and I) would go
outside in Bucksport with a magnifying glass and see how long it took to cook
little red ants that lived under the steps. We would climb the big pine tree in
the back yard and just hang out there. Literally. We would go down to the brook
and hang out under the bridge. In Calais we would ride our bikes to the
hospital parking lot and watch the ambulances come and go. Then on the way home
we usually stopped to check on all the tadpoles in the brook behind the Senior
Living Center that backed up to the Parsonage property. When I got too old for
my Barbie dolls we used to tie them to a rope and throw them out of the hayloft
in the garage and see how many berries they would bring back from the tree.
Jon and
I would play horseshoes and hang out in the blackberry patch behind the garage,
pick them right off the stems and eat them there without washing them. And Jon
and I are both still alive and healthy! We would walk or ride our bikes around
town, go down to the convenience store with our allowance money and play video
games and buy soda and gum. It was a very simple life. When Dad was appointed
to Wilton and North Jay we would walk down to Wilson Lake or Kineowtha Park and
hang out with friends there. Wilton was a really small town, but we had friends
and got creative with ways to kill time. When I got into high school I joined
the Marching Band my junior year, got my driver’s license and the “Green
Machine” and sort of took off on my own. I had odd jobs, babysitting, mowing
lawns, etc. so that I could earn money for gas and of course those lovely teen
magazines! I know that somewhere I still have several boxes of NKOTB stuff
packed away! I will worship Donnie Wahlberg ‘til I die!
Wait,
where was I going with this? Yes, now I remember! As I am sure that many of you
know, I work in a laboratory setting. Right now I am with the NorDx labs at
their Bramhall location right at Maine Medical Center in Portland, Maine. I am
a generalist right now, but most of my career has been spent in
Microbiology/Serology/Virology. I cannot tell a lie; those are my favorite
parts of the lab. However, I have relearned, and learned so much in the last 19
months of my life. I am so grateful for that. Currently I do 12.5 hour shifts,
but pick up extra time when I can. This past week I worked four hours Sunday
and a full day on Monday. So I am right in the thick of all that is going on
right now, not just in our country, but globally. Thanks be to the Maker that I have had the
past two days off to recoup and get ready for two days on duty!
At the
lab we usually have a screen up that shows the census of the hospital; how many
people are on each floor, how many are in the ER, how many from the ER are
awaiting room assignments, etc. While I was there on Monday, the overall census
kept dropping. However, the ER was packed. What I learned was that there were
several units in the ER that were quarantined for patients who showed symptoms
of the lovely COVID-19 virus that is spreading like wildfire throughout not
just the U.S.A. but the entire world as well. Almost every patient that came in
to the ER would have the needed specimen collected to test for Flu A and Flu B
and then send for the COVID-19 testing. We went through quite a bit of flu test
kits that day. We even had to get another analyzer we were getting so many
specimens! About half were positive for the Flu, the other half were sent on
for further testing. According to the CDC people can be positive for both the
Flu and the COVID-19!
During
my past two days that I have not been on duty I have been keeping in touch with
co-workers who have been right on the front. From what I can gather things are
a total zoo. It will be interesting to see what is going on tomorrow morning
when I punch in. However, I am very grateful for the last two days that I have
had here at home with Mom, Dad and my psycho-Chihuahua. I have been working on
my puzzle (well, it’s “our” puzzle, right Mom?) and writing. I have so much in
my head right now that I feel like it is going to explode.
This is
the first time that I as a Gen X-er have lived through something like this. I
believe (from a quick check on Google) that the last major outbreak was in
2003, however that seemed to stay mostly in China. At that time I had three
kids under the age of six and I don’t remember schools here in the USA totally
shutting down. Now that my kids are all over the age of 18 I don’t pay as much
attention to school closures, and usually those are due to snowstorms. However,
this is so serious. Schools are shut down; I have a dear friend who is a
librarian in Rochester, NY and doesn’t know if the schools will reopen before
summer break. He is so glad he has a part-time job as well (that says something
about America these days but that is a different blog: how people need more
than one job to stay afloat in America these days). Right now I have many
friends all over New England who now have kids at home full-time, be they high
school age or younger, and they are all wondering what to do. Especially those
with elementary school aged children. Do I risk my job to stay home with the
kids? Do I try to find someone to watch them while I am at work, or do I stay
at home and risk losing my job? There are so many questions right now that need
answers.
I am so
blessed to know that I will have a job as I am in the medical laboratory profession.
I will be ‘til I retire. However, the call-out list has been phenomenal.
Whether it is people who are sick or need to be at home with their children I
don’t know. However in watching the news more and more health care people are
getting sick with this virus. I know that there is a massive shortage looming.
I pray that the Man Upstairs watches over me to let me stay well so that I am
able to assist these doctors in assisting the patients that so need help; be they
those that have the COVID-19 or those with cancer, AIDS or other illnesses that
need 24 hour seven day a week care. Sitting here being confined to home when I
am not at the lab has given me so much time to think. So much thinking that my
brain is actually hurting.
I
apologize if this Blog has seemed a bit rambling, but as I have said I just
have so much in my head right now. I just got off the phone with my therapist who
has had to cancel sessions due to this lovely virus. So now that I am not able
to see here for about three weeks I will be doing a lot of writing and
Blogging. This is in many ways like the Flu epidemic of 1918, except then we
didn’t have the technology that we do today. I have been greatly impressed by
what I have been seeing on Facebook; people at home with their children and
family working on puzzles or playing games together. We, as a society have so
forgotten how to do these simple things. Several weeks ago when my oldest and
her boyfriend were up visiting we sat and played “Bananagrams” together for a
while. It was so much fun; filled with laughter and just being together. We all
need to do that more often. With this virus running ramped through our lives
right now maybe this is the way of the Man Upstairs telling all of us to just
be kinder to one another. To check on our neighbors; not just because of this
virus but because this is something that we should do all the time. Make some
extra dinner and bring some over to an elderly neighbor. Give a friend a call
just to check in on them. Give a little extra to a food pantry. Just be good
and “Do unto others as you would have done unto you.” Yes, that is the PK part
of me coming out. I am so grateful to have been raised a PK. I didn’t quite get
it when I was growing up, but the older I get the more thankful I am.
I
wouldn’t change a darn thing. I am so blessed to have been raised as a PK. To know right from wrong, to "do unto others." And to quote the awesome TC from the Bangor
Police Department’s FB page, “Keep your hands to yourself, leave other people’s
things alone, and be kind to one another.”
Dawnie
out.
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