Nothing too new about that concept- I did it from 2012 to 2014. My brother and sister still got to go to school. My Mom could go to work. Everyone else in my community lived a normal life and only my life was restricted to this home-bound business. Now, it’s everyone- to keep the corona virus from spreading.
Initially this quarantine was set up to protect the weak- the compromised- like me- or cancer kids like me- or grandparents with co-morbidities- but now- it’s really to protect everyone and to stop the virus from spreading.
Every person who gets it- is told to stay home and their family members are told to stay home too, so the virus just dies with them in their house. My prayer is that this works- that somehow this virus dies out.
I’ve got some real living to do. Once my cancer quarantine was over- MAKE A WISH granted me a wish and my family went to Florida for a vacation and a start-over button was pressed. We could again begin living after cancer. We were put up in a resort called GIVE KIDS THE WORLD VILLAGE. It's an amazing place. Kids who have faced or are facing critical or terminal illnesses are invited to stay there, and families can stay there only once per life time. They have an Ice Cream Shoppe that's open from 7 am to midnight. They have rides and pools, and take-out and parades every night. It's a hotel resort like no other. It's staffed by a core staff and then an additional 1737 volunteers a week and annually hosts 342,160 volunteer hours to care for the grounds, the fascilities, and the guests. When we were there, we were having breakfast at the dining hall, and a little 11 year old brought us our napkins and forks and we asked him what he was doing there. He said he and his family were volunteering. At the time, my mom looked at my dad, my brother looked at my sister, we all looked around and nodded in agreement. When we were all well - and time had passed and we could come back and do it, we all decided we too would be a volunteer family.
Well, that was all set up, and we were headed to Florida…. THIS SPRING. The spring that the virus hit. The spring that everything closed up, travel, flights, leaving your own state... and sadly even GKTW had to suspend services. Sure, it's no fun and no fair that we can't go fulfill our dream to volunteer and help out other MAKE A WISH families, but all those kids who finally were going to get their MAKE A WISH trips, had to post pone them because of the state of the world right now.
A lot of people have been inconvenienced, few have been hit so hard that they've had family members die. Many people are working the front lines to help the sick and dying. Our "postponed family vacation" is absolutely on the bottom of things to complain about or worry about. We know that, and we're making the best of this spring that we can.
I'm being homeschooled by mom, with much guidance and support from my teacher and school. My brother and sister have an awesome school too, and mom couldn't be prouder of their teachers and district. Mom is home full time, she normally works closely near people's faces and can't go to work until the CDC tells her she can go back. Dad is working at his normal job, and washing, and washing and washing. We're trying to take care of Grandma who lives next door, but it is hard because this virus can be in us, without us even knowing, and we don't want to bring it over to her, even though we are all feeling well and look well, and have no fevers. We talk to her every day and try to tell her what we've been up to. In the evenings we eat dinner together, which didn't always happen when mom was a working mom, we watch shows and play games. We do a lot of bottle flipping. We play indoor hopscotch. We pray.
Mostly, that's what starts our day and ends our day. We pray for peace. We pray for people to be patient with other people - there are lots of ideas and theories and anxiety and frustration and sadness now. But, there is also, lots of joy, togetherness, and blessings.
I am lucky enough to be young enough to really only see the blessings. Sure, I miss my school friends and my teachers, but I love this extra time to be home with my siblings and my mom during the day times. I love family dinner and am the moderator EVERY night of "HIGHS AND LOWS." AND, I almost forgot, I get to spend all day with my dog, Massimo. He got sick last year and our vet told us he only had one year to live... but he made it! He hung in there, we did what his doctor recommended, we DON'T feed him any table scraps anymore, and he made it.
Some of the news these days is like table-scraps, too much of it and you might just get really sick.
I'm steering clear of all of that, and I'm just focusing on the good. I hope and pray the same goes for you. I pray for your peace, your health and the opportunity for all of us to find a little rest. Special prayers go out to the health care providers, the essential workers in all avenues who help our stay at home be so easy, you know who you are, and we do too. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your selflessness and your hard work!
Here's what I've been up to, making the most of my second go-round of this quarantine business.
Well, that was all set up, and we were headed to Florida…. THIS SPRING. The spring that the virus hit. The spring that everything closed up, travel, flights, leaving your own state... and sadly even GKTW had to suspend services. Sure, it's no fun and no fair that we can't go fulfill our dream to volunteer and help out other MAKE A WISH families, but all those kids who finally were going to get their MAKE A WISH trips, had to post pone them because of the state of the world right now.
A lot of people have been inconvenienced, few have been hit so hard that they've had family members die. Many people are working the front lines to help the sick and dying. Our "postponed family vacation" is absolutely on the bottom of things to complain about or worry about. We know that, and we're making the best of this spring that we can.
I'm being homeschooled by mom, with much guidance and support from my teacher and school. My brother and sister have an awesome school too, and mom couldn't be prouder of their teachers and district. Mom is home full time, she normally works closely near people's faces and can't go to work until the CDC tells her she can go back. Dad is working at his normal job, and washing, and washing and washing. We're trying to take care of Grandma who lives next door, but it is hard because this virus can be in us, without us even knowing, and we don't want to bring it over to her, even though we are all feeling well and look well, and have no fevers. We talk to her every day and try to tell her what we've been up to. In the evenings we eat dinner together, which didn't always happen when mom was a working mom, we watch shows and play games. We do a lot of bottle flipping. We play indoor hopscotch. We pray.
Mostly, that's what starts our day and ends our day. We pray for peace. We pray for people to be patient with other people - there are lots of ideas and theories and anxiety and frustration and sadness now. But, there is also, lots of joy, togetherness, and blessings.
I am lucky enough to be young enough to really only see the blessings. Sure, I miss my school friends and my teachers, but I love this extra time to be home with my siblings and my mom during the day times. I love family dinner and am the moderator EVERY night of "HIGHS AND LOWS." AND, I almost forgot, I get to spend all day with my dog, Massimo. He got sick last year and our vet told us he only had one year to live... but he made it! He hung in there, we did what his doctor recommended, we DON'T feed him any table scraps anymore, and he made it.
Some of the news these days is like table-scraps, too much of it and you might just get really sick.
I'm steering clear of all of that, and I'm just focusing on the good. I hope and pray the same goes for you. I pray for your peace, your health and the opportunity for all of us to find a little rest. Special prayers go out to the health care providers, the essential workers in all avenues who help our stay at home be so easy, you know who you are, and we do too. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your selflessness and your hard work!
Here's what I've been up to, making the most of my second go-round of this quarantine business.
