LOSS

By Jane Scoggins 

It’s upsetting when you lose something you value, isn’t it? And it’s not always about monetary value. Oh no, it can be of sentimental value or for its usefulness. I know, because I lost something recently that was important to me. I've hunted high and low, but to no avail. I tell myself to put it behind me. It’s not as if it is a diamond down the plughole or granny’s wedding ring. No, I tell myself, stop fretting about it. It's gone and that’s the end of it. But I really do miss it. 

I am usually a pretty sanguine sort of person. You know, nothing much gets me down and I don’t sweat the small stuff, and in the light of things these days, this is small stuff. But I guess that like so many people in these strange times I have been affected in unexpected ways. And the last eighteen months or so have been strange haven’t they? Of course, I am talking about the Covid 19 virus that we were hit by back in January2020. It spread across the country and in fact the world in a way never known before. It made people very ill indeed, the hospitals were full to bursting and many thousands of people died. Not just people who were vulnerable or with existing medical conditions. Not just the frail elderly, but younger apparently fit people too. The government called upon the best scientists to develop a vaccine at double quick time. But even with the vaccine jab rollout, we were not at all safe and the numbers of cases escalated weekly like wildfire. We were all instructed to keep two metres apart from others, wash hands all the time, use antibacterial hand gel, wear face masks, avoid meeting with groups of friends and even family outside our immediate household. The mantra became Hands, Face, Space. Things got worse. Next came PM Boris Johnson’s difficult decision to announce a lockdown.  No gatherings, pubs and restaurants closed, weddings and holidays postponed, churches closed and funerals attended with only a handful of people. Babies born without Grans and Nan’s.  Uncles and aunts did not see them for months afterward. Huge restrictions of the flow of people coming into the UK and leaving from airports. Quarantine and Covid testing increased With these stringent rules in place and the increase of vaccine rollout a bit of progress was made, and some restrictions were gradually lifted. But with the lifting, another wave of Covid and then the identification of a new strain, Delta, we were back to semi lockdown. It has been a horrible roller-coaster for the whole nation, the whole world, and with another new more transmissible strain Omicron, recently we are all on our guard. Because even if you get this virus and are unwell but not needing hospital care, you may still be affected for months on end by what has been called Long Covid with ongoing illness, fatigue and lack of taste and smell. We have all had our lives, work and activities cut back to the bone and this has been a struggle. I feel for those who have not coped at all well with the restrictions, isolation, and separations.  So, after all that outpouring, what has that got to do with what I have lost?

According to the famous designer and artist, William Morris, all our possessions should be either useful or beautiful. Well, my lost possession was both beautiful and useful and greatly valued in the last year. It was a face mask made of beautiful silk fabric, with three layers to fully protect me from viral germs. It had the most comfortable elastic to go behind my ears. Believe me, I have tried a variety of face masks and this one was the best of the best. Useful and beautiful, I could have worn it all day if needed. Isn’t that so silly of me? Please don't laugh.  Strange times have made most of us re-evaluate what is important. And that has to be about keeping safe from Covid and treasuring and protecting our own health and wellbeing and that of our family and friends. For we have been harshly reminded that life is precious, and we don't know how long we will have each other. That face mask had become a symbol of safety. I am on the hunt now for another one that will have all the same qualities. Keep well, keep safe my friends; the danger is not at all over.

 

Copyright Jane Scoggins