Well, we managed to go almost two years. But living with a bartender at one of the most popular dive bars in Denver, and an expediter at one of the most popular burger joints in Denver, it was just a matter of time. Especially with the Omicron variant, hot on the heels of the Delta variant, running rampant through a population that is mask weary and pandemic tired. We’re having a Covid Christmas.
Chris woke up Sunday not feeling great. We chalked it up to an amazingly busy three days of deck the balls-to-the-wall holiday bartending. Unfortunately, as the day went on and he added fever and congestion to the aches and pains he was experiencing, we knew it was more than just old age + bartending. Fast forward 24 hours, a full-on sleepfest, and continued fever, and it was obvious the jig was up. Tuesday morning’s test results came back positive. After 19 months, Chris has Covid.
It’s hard to live in a house with someone who has Covid. It’s hard to have Covid and live with other people that you don’t want to make sick. People get frustrated. Tempers flare. No one likes to be followed with a can of Lysol. No one likes to be told “stay in your room and stop touching shit!” And we really don’t like to have to wear a mask in our own homes. But that’s what we do, to keep the ones we love safe.
Miraculously, the one person in the house with asthma and shitty-weak lungs has tested negative (THANK YOU BOOSTER!), as well as the teen (who’s never home, so that probably helped). So we’re a house divided — Johnsons 2, Covid 2.
This year, our Christmas plans have changed quite a bit. No week of Christmas outings. No grandma over on Christmas Eve to watch “White Christmas.” No outside family over for dinner Christmas day. This year, mom and my brother will be over Christmas morning for presents and to set up Jonah’s gift. There will be isolation — Covid sickies in the living room and the rest of us in the dining room — and masks. It will be weird. But it will be a Christmas.
Chris and Jonah are both better, and while it sucks to be sick, it could have been a lot worse (THANK YOU VACCINATIONS!). There are wonderful gifts, we will make a wonderful meal for the four of us in the house, and we will live to celebrate another holiday.
Make the yuletide gay!
For the three people who will actually read this, have yourself a merry little Christmas. Make the yuletide gay! Whatever that means to you, I hope your celebration is full of joy, love, and food. (And if you haven’t gotten your booster yet, just do it!).