I got the COVID-19 vaccination today, and I didn’t realize I’d be so emotional about it.
It’s been a contentious year that has found us disagreeing on nearly everything – even on things that seem so ridiculous to argue about. People have been hurt, angry, sad, frustrated, some have been minimally inconvenienced, and some have had huge plans unraveled by a pandemic we couldn’t seem to get a handle on. We’ve celebrated alone, isolated from the people we love the most, turning to whatever we can grasp to replace the big squeezy hugs and human connection we crave.
I contracted and recovered from COVID-19 in November. My whole family did. We are blessed because not everyone can use the word “recovered”. I have friends, colleagues, and loved ones who have died or nearly died of this disease. One particularly healthy friend recently ended up in the ICU – teetering for a solid week on the horrific, lonely, Mount Everest-sized ledge of survival.
But. (Don’t you love buts?)
After nearly a whole year of being inundated with headlines worse than the headlines we read the day before, science wins. SCIENCE, mamas. I’m not a scientist, which is why I leave the professional science-ing to the professional scientists whose job it is to science around labs all day long. I trust professionals to do their respective jobs each and every day. And today, I got to be part of the end of this thing. It’s a shot. It stings a little. I expect my arm to hurt for a few days. Some people will have adverse reactions to it. I hope I’m not one of them. I will absolutely get the second dose in a month.
Let’s end this. We’re exhausted. We’re broken. We’re tired of watching the bad news and case spikes and death tolls every day. We’re weary from watching our kids bored at home, missing their friends, and desperately needing their school experience. But we’re ready now.
Today was like standing in line outside a movie theatre, waiting for them to open the doors to the most anticipated release of the year, and then finally getting a seat and, instead of movie trailers, watching the sunrise peek over the horizon on a clear morning with a cup of sweet, steamy, caffeinated nectar of the coffee bean gods. I teared up a little. Science wins. I can’t think of a better way to kick 2020 to the curb. Happy New Year, indeed.
Mamas, friends, whether we know each other or not, I can’t wait to hug you! Get ready, because I give great hugs. Science wins.