Only a mother’s son (and his wife.)
No, she isn’t ill. She continues to be independent, to do her own
housekeeping, is waiting for the DMV to open so she can renew her driver’s
license and walks a couple of miles a day. So why did we pick one of the
hottest month of the year to travel to a state whose COVID-19 cases are at an
all-time high and increasing? Well, as she puts it, at 93 she may not live to
see a vaccine.
After isolating ourselves for two weeks, we loaded up the car,
put together our COVID-19 protocol kit and headed out. We understand mom when
she says she can’t live forever and she has to die of something, but we didn’t
want to be the ones to bring that “something” to her.
Stopping for restroom breaks, we donned masks, put on gloves, and
tucked a Clorox wipe in our gloves before going inside. After using the toilet,
we pulled the gloves off, (keeping the wipe in case we needed to touch a door
or something when we left), washed our hands for 20 seconds, exited the
restroom and used the hand sanitizer provided just outside the door. No doubt
the few folks we encountered considered us to be more than careful, maybe we
were labeled paranoid, but we were going to see mom.
Since the 700 mile trip requires an
overnight stop (remember, we too are elderly, or
so they say) we researched our “go-to” hotel chain, and was satisfied
with their stated cleaning protocol, booked a room on the first floor to avoid
the elevator, checked in digitally and used the room key app. On the way to
College Station we passed one person in the hall; on the return trip we saw
absolutely no one at the hotel.
While in College Station we stayed
pretty much within the family bubble. Not knowing what the future might bring,
we are glad we made the trip.
We are currently isolating (almost
quarantining) until we can be COVID tested. Not much of an inconvenience as the
garden needs lots of attention. It is amazing how many weeds can invade in a 10
day absence!
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