The blossom tree in The View from the Terrace

I was feeling a bit down yesterday morning. My trip home was cancelled because I was still not feeling too well; I felt quite feverish Monday evening, but still no other symptoms. I rang Hubby to say I wouldn’t go back only for him to tell me that the folk club had been cancelled anyway, along with his choir and his art group, all because of the new government advice to avoid all non essential social contact. I’m actually feeling better today as was Hubby last night and Tony has made a full recovery, no one has had a cough, so we presume it was just an ordinary cold.

I got up yesterday feeling rather sorry for myself. The advice for over 70s to avoid social contact is quite depressing when you are living with an autistic daughter who can be stressful to cope with and is often very depressed. I have been keeping my spirits up by going out to the shops or the cafe. I was feeling trapped. Then I looked out of the living room window and saw a tree in full blossom sparkling in the sunshine. It quite lifted my spirits. It was one of those ‘life goes on’ moments. It reminded me of our visit to the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam. Those who have read her diary will know that there was a tree outside the window of the secret hiding place that lifted her spirits.

I started thinking about Anne’s diary and realised that everything is relative. So we oldies might have to socially isolate ourselves for a few months but Anne and her family and the other residents were in those tiny rooms for 2 years. I am in a bright airy flat and I can open the window blinds to the sunshine, I have a little garden, I can even walk to the park if I’m careful not to go near people. I’ll miss going home to the folk club and to the charity shops and the cafe around the corner but there is still so much I can do.

I remember reading Christopher Reeve’s biography a few years ago and he said how, after he was paralysed, for a while, he got really low from thinking of all of the things he couldn’t do anymore. Then he learned to concentrate on the things he could still do, wise words.

Hubby is coming on Thursday. He still has to bring my medication. He will drive straight here so he won’t come into contact with anyone. I am going to look into whether my doctor would send an electronic prescription to a local pharmacy in case I do have to self isolate but I haven’t felt up to organising that today.

My parents lived through a world war and my grandparents lived through another one followed by a different pandemic. We will get through this and meanwhile there is always beauty if you look.