BITS AND PIECES WITH THREADS INTO OUR IMAGINATION

A series of essays....

UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO TESTED THE BUBBLE HELMET IN 2016
TO TREAT CRITICALLY-ILL PATIENTS IN NEED OF BREATHING ASSISTANCE

....as seen through my eyes!

By: Jacqueline E Hughes

Leaving this world without having the opportunity of a loved one holding your hand, is frightening...very sad. It is happening every day as COVID-19 sweeps through all fifty states. The virus is indiscriminate, lethal to many, and odorless...that is, if the smell of fear is undetectable. 

One doctor likened the Emergency Room of his New York City hospital to an elaborate game of Tetris; hospital beds positioned side-by-side and end-to-end with patients awaiting medical attention while others sit outside in the waiting room, incapable of adhering to a safe distance apart, anticipating their own turn in this topsy-turvy game of life and breath (death).

Nurses, categorized as one of our most ‘essential variety’ of workers and must wear protective gowns, masks, gloves, and deal with the lack of ventilator machines, are not immune to this invisible disease. I envision them, along with the doctors, EMTs (Emergency Medical Technicians), ambulance drivers and attendants (and a long list of others) lining up to receive a Purple Heart in every town across the United States. They will say, "It is our duty to help others."      

The remainder of us MUST live in our sterile, individually disciplined worlds...for now. 

EVEN THOUGH IT MAY SOMETIMES FEEL
LIKE IT -- WE ARE NOT ALONE IN THIS!!

Serious times demand serious thoughts and reflections. Regrets in our lives can stand out and loom largely in our hearts during this coronavirus disease pandemic. It’s human nature. For the most part, we are kind but frail creatures, susceptible to a bit of ego boosting, but light-up like the brightest star when told we are or assume we are needed by others whether they be loved ones or strangers. Just ask any parent of an adult child.

Life is not perfect. Living through these harrowing times is no exception. However, the picture of relearning the loving  fundamentals of family time such as preparing and eating meals together, playing cards, board games, or putting puzzles together on the dining room table, baking bread or resurrecting long neglected family recipes, would bring a bold and modern flourish to the likes of a Norman Rockwell painting!

How many of us are sitting back in our inside world, safely catching-up on the outside news, while secretly admiring the home library of a particular news anchor, as well as  their contributing experts who have chosen books rather than paintings or reflective windows and mirrors as their home backdrops? I feel like a literary voyeur hoping the camera stays on them long enough to be able to read as many book titles as possible. You can tell a lot about a person via their home library. Evidently, a lot about ourselves, as well.

Courtesy of Amanda Patterson

Our natural creativity and talents come pouring out when we have the time to concentrate on the things we love to do and organize the imagination and originality trapped inside of us. The British family who performed a song from Les Miserable after changing the lyrics to conform with their newly sequestered lifestyle was a social media treat. Free concerts offered by well known musicians and books read by authors and various celebrities have boosted our morale and placed smiles on our faces and in our hearts.

Ironically, our sequestered imaginations have been brought to life due to the fact that we have been sequestered within our homes by social distancing!! It is our time to shine; accelerate innovative ideas whenever possible. 

Kudos to the Texan family whose company is manufacturing ‘bubble helmets’ as swiftly as possible in the hopes that their product can assist doctors fighting on the coronavirus frontline to treat critically-ill patients in need of breathing assistance. The expertise and imaginative progression of the researchers working on a vaccine for the coronavirus is illuminating our hopes for a source of prevention from this detestable disease and worldwide pandemic. Given all of the great scientific minds being pooled together on this one, we can only hope that a vaccine is close due to all of the tremendous talent working to make it happen.

Recently I saw a post on social media that read, “Today is March 97th.” It gave me a chuckle and made me realize it was kind of true. Things I did at the beginning of March seem like they happened a very long time ago. Coincidentally, writing this today, on what the calendar is telling me is April 1st, adds an element of humor to this feeling of elongated spaces in time. 

I wish this was simply an elaborate April Fools’ Day prank. Alas, it is not. It is real. We must never forget that these days are borrowed but the memories of cooperation, camaraderie, and compassion for others will always be ours to keep; forged into our thoughts long after the COVID-19 Pandemic is written into the annals of history and before we face yet another life or death challenge in our lives.

Remember to stay safe and healthy and take care of you.

Always sending love and energy your way.

In loving memory of my beautiful

Aunt Joyce who passed away 

earlier this week. Love to her entire

family. What a very Special Lady!!

Copyright © 2020 by Jacqueline E Hughes

All rights reserved