Quarantine Day 1 / by Kenneth Buff

Today I tested positive for COVID-19. My symptoms are loss of taste and smell, and congestion. I also get chills sometimes. I’ve been vaccinated with the Pfizer vaccine.

The worst part has been the ripple effects. Miranda and Willow have both tested negative, so they can continue life as normal, but Leo has also tested positive. Leo is 2, Willow is 4. We have a basement where I could quarantine away, but, Willow and Leo would not be able to resist playing with one another if they were in the same house. So, then the options of Miranda and Willow staying somewhere else while Leo and I quarantine at home gets thrown out. The first choice is my mother in law’s house, but my father in law is also getting tested. He has body aches, and chills. So, that option may not be an option at all.

So, those are the logistics of trying to see where everyone’s lives will be for the next 10 days, but for me the thought of spending those 10 days alone, or with just myself and my son, it has made me break down crying twice. Sure, some might think staying at home for 10 days and doing whatever you want to entertain yourself sounds like a lot of fun. For me, it sounds like a nightmare. 1 night, okay. 2-3, rough but we’ll make it. But 10? We’ve already been going through a lot of stress with my new job and other changes that have happened in our lives, and the thought of suddenly being forced to be apart from each other, it just feels like too much.

That said, there’s not much of a choice in this. You just have to roll with it because there’s nothing else to do.

We’re currently trying to decide if we’re going to all quarantine together as logistically it may be too hard if Nancy’s house is out of play (if Doug is positive).

The good news is that work wise it will only be a week out, as we don’t have school today and my symptoms started yesterday (I thought it was just allergies at first). So, I guess we’ll see where things go from here. Just thankful that our symptoms are relatively mild.