No one is Safe

Dear Creator Family,

First, thank you all so very much for the many messages of concern and for your prayers during my COVID lockdown. My experience was a very unpleasant one, but I was bolstered by your prayers, the companionship of Christ, and the ministrations of the Holy Spirit.

I would like to share with you a few observations regarding my experience. First, I am fully vaccinated, as is Jenny, who also tested positive shortly after I did. I am in good health and rarely feel ill to the point of taking any personal time off. When I found out that I tested positive, I planned out my first week of isolation to include the six-hour teardown and mounting of a trailer hitch for Sophie’s Subaru Outback. I was confident that my week would consist of many “honey-do” projects that have languished over the past several months and that COVID would be nothing more than a “slight head cold-like” experience. How wrong I was!

My first week was a roller coaster of agonizing pain (which could not be controlled even by Hydrocodone), chronic and debilitating fatigue, fevers, and headaches. I rapidly became sleep-deprived due to the pain and experienced a wave of desperation for relief, unlike anything I have ever known. In short, this was not the mild head cold experience I thought it would be. On the other hand, Jenny was sailing through the experience with few if any symptoms and was anxious to get back to work.

I share this with you because I want you to be aware that, at least by my personal experience and my doctor’s reflection, there is no telling how hard COVID will hit you. Why was I so debilitated while Jenny remained so healthy? No one knows. What this has shown me is that no one is safe. Just because you may know someone (Jenny) who sailed right through, does not mean you will. Even now, well past my “isolation and transmission period,” I remain in pain.

Needless to say, Sophie still doesn’t have a trailer hitch on her car.

Please remain vigilant.

Peace in Christ,
Fr. Bill+