COVID-19 (Coronavirus What?!)
Towards the end of December there was talk about a virus that began in Wuhan, China. Many were getting sick and it was extremely contagious. There were parts that mirrored the flu - fever, cough, chills. I honestly didn't think much of it and felt like it was just something that was something local for China. Then it hit Italy. I feel like Italy was the turning point when more of us began to take more notice. More information began to come out about the virus. Lack of symptoms can take a while to show up, but people are contagious before symptoms appear. Italy has been under quarantine house arrest for a while now. It was truly what opened my eyes to the idea that this was a bigger deal than I had originally thought. It felt so far removed from where we live.
There were quite a few cases in the Northwest in Oregon and California. Then in the east coast. It began to spread and closures began to occur fairly slowly at first. Definitely brought more attention to what was happening.
Last week was my biggest week of the year with the culmination of performances by my select ensembles. We were scheduled to travel to three local schools on Thursday and then finishing with a final sharing at GSES. On Wednesday there was some talk about a few local schools who had closed as a result of the Coronavirus. I contacted the three schools and everything was still a 'go.' I stayed after school prepping everything and went home late. Then fell asleep in Julia's bed after reading to her.
Around 10:15pm Jeremy woke me up to let me know that school had been cancelled for the next two days (this was leading right into our week of Spring Break). I thought he was joking and as I was sleeping so deeply I kept telling him to stop joking around. It took him a few minutes, but I finally woke up enough to realize that everything had been cancelled. I read the email and heard the voicemail about the cancellation. One of our faculty members had a relative living with them who had been in contact with someone who had been diagnosed with COVID-19. As a result, it was important for all of us to stay home. I emailed all of the families of the select ensemble students as well as the three schools we had been scheduled to go perform for. There were tears shed - all of that work by the students and myself up to this point in the year - and realizing that God had a plan. That there was a purpose in what we were being asked to do even though it was so sad. I received some of the most loving and kind messages I've ever read as a teacher. This truly meant so much.
Jeremy had Riley turn off her alarm so that she wouldn't wake up early and let her know we didn't have school. She was equally as confused as I had been and also thought Jeremy was joking. Somehow in the midst of everything we didn't let Julia know - after all, she was sleeping so well. In the morning Jeremy woke up to get ready for work and I was still asleep. Julia woke up at her usual time and got dressed and ready for school. She even packed most of her lunch. Jeremy met her in the hallway to let her know that there wasn't any school. She was as confused as the rest of us. Slightly taken aback and went to her room to change.
That first day we enjoyed some really simple things. Puzzles, reading, piano lessons (glad to have the time together to help get back into a routine again with piano practice), watching tv, and playing games. Loved every minute of it.
There were quite a few cases in the Northwest in Oregon and California. Then in the east coast. It began to spread and closures began to occur fairly slowly at first. Definitely brought more attention to what was happening.
Last week was my biggest week of the year with the culmination of performances by my select ensembles. We were scheduled to travel to three local schools on Thursday and then finishing with a final sharing at GSES. On Wednesday there was some talk about a few local schools who had closed as a result of the Coronavirus. I contacted the three schools and everything was still a 'go.' I stayed after school prepping everything and went home late. Then fell asleep in Julia's bed after reading to her.
Around 10:15pm Jeremy woke me up to let me know that school had been cancelled for the next two days (this was leading right into our week of Spring Break). I thought he was joking and as I was sleeping so deeply I kept telling him to stop joking around. It took him a few minutes, but I finally woke up enough to realize that everything had been cancelled. I read the email and heard the voicemail about the cancellation. One of our faculty members had a relative living with them who had been in contact with someone who had been diagnosed with COVID-19. As a result, it was important for all of us to stay home. I emailed all of the families of the select ensemble students as well as the three schools we had been scheduled to go perform for. There were tears shed - all of that work by the students and myself up to this point in the year - and realizing that God had a plan. That there was a purpose in what we were being asked to do even though it was so sad. I received some of the most loving and kind messages I've ever read as a teacher. This truly meant so much.
Jeremy had Riley turn off her alarm so that she wouldn't wake up early and let her know we didn't have school. She was equally as confused as I had been and also thought Jeremy was joking. Somehow in the midst of everything we didn't let Julia know - after all, she was sleeping so well. In the morning Jeremy woke up to get ready for work and I was still asleep. Julia woke up at her usual time and got dressed and ready for school. She even packed most of her lunch. Jeremy met her in the hallway to let her know that there wasn't any school. She was as confused as the rest of us. Slightly taken aback and went to her room to change.
That first day we enjoyed some really simple things. Puzzles, reading, piano lessons (glad to have the time together to help get back into a routine again with piano practice), watching tv, and playing games. Loved every minute of it.
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