Easter in the time of COVID
The first time I’ve put on make up and a real bra in weeks, making it a very special occasion indeed.
A delicious brunch and a lot of familiar faces via Zoom. Not the worst holiday ever but a weird one.
Well this weekend marked a different kind of a holiday. As we come upon a month in quarantine, while maintaining social distancing and avoiding mostly everyone, we celebrated our first holiday in the wake of COVID. As a society these special occasions typically bring us all together, one of a handful of days throughout the year, where we gather with our extended family, share massive meals, and eat too much candy and dessert. In the past some of us might’ve been reluctant to attend, inconvenienced by the travel, or turned off by trivial family drama, taking these opportunities for granted. I think we can all safely say now that we’ll appreciate holidays more than ever once the dark cloud of COVID has passed.
I have always prioritized time with my family and have valued it tremendously (note: it helps that I have a family I actually like), so I made it a point to not let the virus deny me of it entirely. Fortunately we were able to kickstart the day with an Easter brunch along with the McFalls, eating ham and all the fixings with family, and giving an element of normalcy to the holiday. Unfortunately, Jack was upset that the Easter bunny hadn’t visited his house while he slept over at ours (an oversight we all should’ve considered), but alas his disappointment was fleeting and a Peeps hunt seemed to flip his mood.
Most of the rest of our afternoon was spent on the computer, where I was successfully able to organize about thirty five people across two different Zoom meetings and everyone miraculously figured it out. Big win! I consider myself especially lucky to have “seen” virtually every member of my family this Easter. Granted I saw most of them through my computer screen, but I still saw them, laughed with them, celebrated with them and connected with them.
Had it been a normal Easter I likely would’ve been up with my family in person in Central Massachusetts, bouncing between two different houses, visiting with the same thirty plus people I set eyes on via video today. Sure it was a bit more chaotic and far more impersonal but at least it was something.
My cousin Tyler joined the call in head to toe PPE, a precaution he took when generously going to my grandparents to set them up on the call, and gear he had handy thanks to his job at the local grocery store. My cousin Chris in Washington DC provided some much needed comic relief as he described in detail how his new designer dog came to be via IVF, and he introduced us to the giant mummy statue he keeps in his apartment to fend off burglars. I was enamored by the adorable Mass. accent that my cousin Pat’s toddler has acquired, likely getting it from his Papa. As expected we all got to “ooh and aah” over my nephew Mason, who could only hold his attention for so long before my sister had to start picking him up and twirling him over her head for stimulation. Gavin was able to show off his elaborate mask production and the heirloom of a sewing machine he’s been using to make them, which was once his sister’s and his grandmother’s before that. It was the first time most of us got to lay eyes on my grandparents who recently traveled back from Florida in the middle of the pandemic. And for the most emotional portion of my calls, we got to surprise my grandmother with the smiling faces of all of our family members while she was holed up in the hospital awaiting transport to rehab.
So while we couldn’t have the same depth of conversation we would’ve had in person, or exchanged hugs and kisses, or come together over a family meal, it was still special. We all tried something new together and became a bit more comfortable with being alone together, so I’d say it’s value far exceeded the $15 I spent for a month of Zoom Pro (which I’ll surely extend). I’ve since received a handful of messages from my family thanking me for organizing the calls so I know it was worth it.
As social species humans are wired to naturally seek the companionship of others as part of our well being. This is why our collective mental health is so threatened right now. We are being forced to remain apart which is something that goes against the essence of who we are and how we behave. While video conferencing is no replacement for in-person interaction it has provided us with the next best thing, and I’m grateful we’re living through this pandemic and not the one in 1918.
I’m hoping this week’s special occasion was extra unique, and I’m optimistic that we’ll be able to gather together again by the time Thanksgiving and Christmas roll around. And that our Zoom celebrations were a temporary fix to a temporary problem.
My heart hurts for those that are completely alone, for those celebrating a new niece, nephew or grandchild that can’t see them, or even worse those with sick loved ones who can’t be by their side or gather to grieve their loss. We are used to being together in sickness, in health, in life and death, at our highest highs and at our lowest lows, and I yearn to get back to the normalcy that will allow us to regain human connection again. Until then I’ll be packing my days with Zoom calls and hugging the members of my quarantine crew that much tighter.
Today’s Headlines: Pope says the Coronavirus is testing our whole human family, Early indicators suggest rise in domestic violence killings, US Coronavirus cases surpass 556,000, US close to meat shortage after pork plant closes due to coronavirus
Some feel good news: John Krasinski Surprises Beth Israel Coronavirus Unit With Red Sox Tickets For Life
Something that made me happy: Seeing the faces of all of my family members together and being reminded of how lucky I am to have such a strong support system.
Something that made me sad: Thinking about all of the people that had to spend the holiday alone.
What I’m watching: Spenser Confidential, the newest Mark Wahlberg movie on Netflix featuring Post Malone. We watched it in the middle of the night when we couldn’t go to sleep because of the tornado warnings that kept us up until 3:30am. Multiple times we moved ourselves into the interior door ways to protect ourselves from an impending doom that we couldn’t see coming, so yeah it was terrifying.
Luckily none touched down near us and we were able to finally get some sleep. *For the record that was the first time I’ve had to worry about dying of a natural disaster in the middle of worrying about dying of a virus, on a holiday.