Pen-demic

  Sarah Burgess Tomorrow I turn 45. This year I have spent more time in my closet than a classroom. I have given up on pants with zippers and buttons and now favor elastic waistbands almost exclusively- jeans included. Comfort over style every day. I’ve played more games with my family this past year than I have in the entire 16 years prior. We’re a game family now. I am learning to sit with imperfection and failure and discomfort rather than trying to “fix” things. Sometimes the healthiest thing to do is embrace the inevitable grief of life. There is peace in that. My rogue, white chin hair and elastic waistbands remind me that the last time I was relevant, Clinton was President, but I will still “throw it back” in a room full of teenagers if it makes them laugh (at me, not with me- I get it). When Dave asked me what I wanted for my birthday, I couldn’t think of a single thing. Not one. This year, for maybe the first time in my life, I really feel like everything I need I already ...

I didn’t expect to go anywhere this past year, not after COVID 19 hit.   But it was a trip I had to take, as did many of those around me.  They even coined a name for it, “Vaccine Tourism”.   In reality, it was often more like a junkie trying desperately to get a fix.   Frustration led to the trip for most. Those in powerful positions who were supposed to protect us, didn’t.  When vaccine s   were   finally available , instead of distributing them in a logical realistic manner by population, our Governor in the State of Missouri, chose to distribute the vaccines  equally to each of the  State Highway P atrol Districts.  No one is quite sure why that di stribution pattern  was chosen .  The Highway Patrol had nothing to do with dispensing the vaccines, b ut vaccines were sent to  rural  areas with sparse populations, rather than to the densely populated m etropolitan areas of St Louis and Kansas City.   ...