Be a Helper

Be careful what you ask for. With my chronic fatigue from pulmonary problems, I tried to get at least one or two days a week to stay home in my pajamas. How I longed for those days of rest to be more. My lungs work three times as hard as the average person, leaving me exhausted and short of breath most of the time, with or without oxygen, which I seem to need mostly at night. My lungs are healthy, but there aren't enough of them to function well inside my elderly, deformed chest cavity, due to scoliosis.

I will always marvel at how our world can change in such a short time though. In just a matter of days, my desire for more "down time" has been answered, and I'm inclined to make every day a "pajama day" until this covid-19 outbreak is over.

My honest, first reaction when it all started to gear up and I learned what a threat this virus could be to people like me, was to feel like my life was over. It must be like that for anyone who receives a diagnosis of a terminal illness. Especially cancer, since just the word strikes fear and terror in all of our hearts. Surely, I felt my days were numbered too, and there was nothing I could do about it.

But, as I started reading about the precautionary measures that could be done, especially if they were community-driven, I began to have some hope. If people would only take this pandemic seriously, and follow the advice of experts, based on what they've learned from other countries so far, perhaps we can get a handle on this virus and lessen the threat for people like me, perhaps increasing the chance that there will be a hospital bed for us, if needed.

It saddens and even angers me when people either minimize, politicize, or criticize the efforts to stop this pandemic. I wish these "I'zes" would focus on the "me'zes" among them, and stop joking and/or complaining (although I realize some humor can be a stress reliever), and just look out for other people in their neighborhood and family who will feel the brunt of all this the most.

Through it all, I feel God's hand in the chaos. We must do like Mr. Rogers told us when we see scary things in the news. "Look to the helpers. You will always find people who are helping." In this particular crisis, we all have a chance to be a helper. Just staying home will help.