Corona Virus Upended My Plans

Guest author, Maxine Ricketts

Maxine, foreground, with friend Beverley

“When are you moving?”

Between my friends and my daughters, that was an ongoing question in my life.

I would reply, “Next year”. But next year never came...

Until this year!

This is the year I had concrete plans for moving.

And then … Covid-19 happened.

The corona virus upended all my plans. It now has me in a state of uncertainty.

 Last year I started thinking about what I would do for my birthday this year. It would be a milestone birthday, so I wanted to do something special. My first thought was to visit Costa Rica. I later decided Jamaica would be a better choice. I had not visited Jamaica for too long. A visit was long overdue.

The intent was that after I returned from Jamaica, I would prepare for the move. My birthday is in April. That’s when I had planned to go. But I kept getting this overwhelming feeling that I should go as early in the year as possible. Was this divine guidance? If I had waited, I would not have been able to go.

I planned to spend two weeks. But my friend, Beverley, encouraged me to stay four weeks. On that note I resigned my job, and headed to Jamaica on January 27, 2020. I enjoyed four weeks of sun, warmth, freedom, and adventure.

There was ongoing news about the virus, but it didn’t sound very scary at the time. On February 25, I returned to the United States. Everything seemed calm. No alarming news. I went to Atlanta on March 4 to see my daughter and finish plans for moving. While I was there, news about the virus became more ominous.

I had taken public transportation to get to Atlanta. The Megabus to be exact. It costs much less than driving. No wear and tear on your body or your car. Now I was becoming apprehensive about my return journey. I checked their website to see if there was any change in schedule. I saw a post outlining procedures to protect their customers from the virus.

With prayers and trust that I wouldn’t be exposed, I returned home on March 12. The news about the virus was becoming more constant and alarming. But I was not aware of the effect it was having on grocery shopping.

The following day I went grocery shopping. Up to this time there were no firm warnings about social distancing. People were moving around as they always did.

I entered the supermarket.

The shelves were empty!

I had not planned on going on a big shopping trip. I went to get the items I bought on a weekly basis.

When I saw the empty shelves, I figured it was due to the day of the week. But when I got home, I saw the news about the run on supermarkets. Toilet paper was the item in highest demand.

Buying enough food to serve over the long term was now getting scary! I needed to get toilet paper. Not because I was hoarding, I was down to my last package. Of course, you know what that was like. Needless to say, I got none.

As the situation became more serious, it was obvious I could not move as planned.  Quarantine and isolation became the order of the day. Now my move to Atlanta hangs in uncertainty...

Awaiting release from Covid-19.

And my actual birthday? It was April 12 (Easter Sunday). I was home alone. But thanks to the many calls and online greetings, you made me feel special.