What Marcus would tell you

In June, I asked my grandson, Marcus, what he learned in kindergarten this year. I expected him to say that he learned to read or count to 100. Instead, he said, “I learned to be kind.”

I’ve been pretty healthy most of my life so I haven’t worried about germs or viruses or “catching” anything. I’ve always washed my hands before I ate or after I used the restroom and relied on my immune system to keep me safe. I got all the vaccines that I needed to attend school or travel abroad, but I didn’t get the “extra” ones that were suggested but not required.

This changed for me when I started taking care of my mom. She was in her 90s and, for her age, was pretty healthy, too. Because I wanted her to stay that way for as long as possible, I started getting an annual flu shot. In the early 2020s, when Covid started to spread, I got vaccinated for that, too.

In the last few weeks, five members of my immediate family, ranging in age from 1 year old to 82, contracted Covid. Some had been to day care, a concert, a ball game, or lived in senior housing. 

My reason for writing this, is that, while some people can get a cold or a fever or a flu and hardly be sick at all, some people will feel unwell or be uncomfortable or very sick or quarantined or confined to a ventilator or not survive. 

It is not (or no longer) a law that we need to wash our hands or wear a mask or social distance or stay home or be vaccinated if we’re sick. We can choose how careful or careless we wish to be. 

However, if a friend, a relative or “neighbor” requests that, for whatever reason, such as age or compromised immune system or just because it makes them feel safer, you take those precautions when you’re around them, Marcus would tell you, “Thank you for being kind!”

Linda Rise