I have refrained from posting anything Covid/Corona related up until this point, because it is everywhere and I think people are overwhelmed with it all. But I want to share our story. We are currently not that affected by it all, though I think that is going to drastically change very soon.
When it first hit Minnesota, it was way down south from us. We live up in the Northwoods of Minnesota, not too far from the Canadian Border. So, it was like, ehh, okay, no big deal. Not too concerned, it does not affect anyone we know. No one in any states we knew had it or was affected by it yet.
Then it spread to Anoka County where many of our family live. So then it was a bit more scary, but still, not "here" yet, and no one we knew had it or was affected by it. But then Minnesota had it's first death. Ok, so maybe this was a little scary. And we all started to be a bit more cautious, washing our hands more, using hand sanitizer more, doing the social distancing. Callan's school was cancelled, as were all school's statewide. I remained working, as did my husband. Still, not a huge deal for our family, really. But then Michigan got hit hard, where two of my sisters live. And Texas, another family member lives there. Their states got the Shelter In Place, but Minnesota hadn't yet, and our numbers were still fairly low. As an immunocompromised person, I started to get nervous. We could foresee the "storm cloud" coming. We did not panic buy, as many did (seriously who needs that much toilet paper?), but we did stock up on groceries, as Callan was now home all day, and eating 3 meals at home, plus snacks.
Minnesota go the Stay At Home orders. While Jason is an Essential Worker in healthcare, I am not in Customer Service. So I decided to stay home with Callan. My workplace is still open, but they gave us the option to stay home if we so choose to. After much talk with my husband, we decided we were at enough risk of him bringing something home from the clinic daily, regardless of the Coronavirus, and we knew our son was nervous about this whole pandemic as is, on top of his regular PTSD, and when your son begs you to please stay home, you do it. Plus, in our eyes....he is a precious gem. He is our only remaining child, and HE comes first. So I am staying home. I have been off work officially going on 4 days now. As of yesterday, Minnesota had 629 positive cases, and 12 deaths. Minimal, compared to other states. But rising daily.
Callan began his Distance Learning yesterday, and that is a big change. But besides school, and me being home from work, and having to hunt for basic groceries and sundries in our area - not a whole lot has changed for us. Do I think it will get worse? Yes. Do I think it will firsthand affect us in someway more than the aforementioned changes? Yes. Am I scared? A little. And I think you all should be as well. I think people need to stay at home, and limit their trips to the stores and out and about. This is not vacation time. Yes, if the weather is nice, go for a walk. But don't let the kids play with 8 other kids on the street. Don't stop to visit with your neighbors and talk about the weather. Being stuck at home sucks for some, I get that. But I think some people are enjoying it a little too much.
