The Pandemic and Human Doings

Today my anxiety crept up and wrapped it’s grimy hands around my neck. My asthma kicked up a bit, and my stomach’s acid boiled enough to send me rushing for the medicine cabinet. The Teacher Twitterverse was filled with messages about updating wills and increasing life insurance. Speculation about going back to school during the pandemic fills my social media.

After a few hours staring numbly at various screens, I decided to look for some PD about SEL and blended learning: teacher jargon for the latest pedagogical acronyms for 2020. It was then, while looking for a webinar, that I discovered that two of my friends had recently passed away.

Both were older woman. We had worked together on committees related to teaching. I had been to one of their houses for hours on end, planning workshops, conferences, and budgets. The other I had shared a room with when we had attended a national conference. I remember her husband had been so kind to buy me a glass of red wine as we sat in the hotel bar waiting for the next meeting. Turned out that the weekend would be my last bit of fun for a while, since the following week I discovered I was finally pregnant.

I can’t tell you how many times I thought about picking up the phone and calling, or stopping by the house to say hello.

Only I didn’t.

I was too busy juggling job, home, son, husband, family, and me. The image of being a fuzzy white and brown hamster spinning in a plastic ball while being on a treadmill comes to mind.

I was too busy being a human doing.

I missed my friends’ demises.

I regret that .

Even though we are living in a pandemic, please don’t hesitate to reach out to those you know. Help those you don’t.

Be a human being.