The occasional musings of an aging sapiens
E. J. and Ellie announced the coming baby months in advance but we were still excited when the event occurred.
Gwen seems very happy most of the time. She is always smiling and nothing seems to bother her. Her big sister, Willa, tends to dominate with what appears to be jealousy combined with dismay at having lost the focus of Mom and Dad.
3 days after we moved in to Mirabella, we were told that the restaurants would be closed and meals would be delivered to us each night in our apartment.
We had just spent two weeks in Los Angeles instead of our usual six weeks in Santa Monica because of the pending move from our old apartment at Park Avenue West. We had to downsize again!
Not long after the restaurants closed, we had to wear masks when inside and there could be a maximum of two people on the elevator. Everything else was also closed: library, pool, exercise room etc.
The result of all of this is that we never really met anyone here and even when we meet them in the elevator, we (I) don’t recognize them later because I can’t see their face. We have not spoken enough to people to be able to recognize their voice.
This was all back in March of 2019 and at that the time, we really did not think about how long this would last because people were talking about going back to normal in a few weeks. In many states and countries, they re-opened too soon and had to go back to lockdown. Some places did this several times.
Mirabella arranged for us to get vaccinated in January 2021. I was surprised because Oregon had done a poor job of arranging the vaccine supply and scheduling the administration. We had the Pfizer vaccine with the first dose on January 21, 2021 and the second on February 11. Aside from sore arms and fatigue, we had no side effects.
As time goes by, some countries (India) are breaking records for daily new infections and some places (California) are having the lowest infection rates since the pandemic began. Because there is a sizeable portion of the population that says they will not get the vaccine, we may not reach herd immunity.
On March 11, 2020 we moved in to Mirabella Portland, a Life Plan Community in Portland, OR. We had moved from Chicago to Portland the prior June and were renting at Park Avenue West while we waited for an opening at Mirabella.
We were not at the top of the list but we happened to be at Mirabella viewing a potential living space when a prior deal fell through and they needed a buyer quickly. The space, unit 2301 was more than we wanted but the view was exactly what we wanted so we took it. 4 weeks later we moved in. Three days later we were locked down for the Covid-19 virus.
The result is we have not met anyone except for the few we met before lock down whom we have not seen since. We wear masks when in the public areas of the building and we take a walk every day. Dinner is delivered to our unit but otherwise we are pretty much alone.
If these were normal times, there would be many activities available and we would be going to the dining room for dinner. Maybe someday
We arrived in Portland on June 16, 2019. 11 days later we were joined by our first grand child Willa Ruth Finneran. We visited her and her parents the next day at the hospital. Everyone was happy but it had clearly been an all nighter for the parents.
She is a very happy baby who likes to get into everything. She has adopted the cat Clark as her friend but seems to have a special regard for Mom and Dad.
With Covid-19, we have not been able to see her since February but Ellie sends us videos she takes which are the next best thing.
We miss her.
Update 4/5/2021:
During the lockdown we were able to visit Willa by sitting on the front porch and sharing sandwiches with the four of us. Willa would comment sardonically.
In late March, 2021 we had dinner with the family indoors. It was great. Willa is always the star of the show.
