Text & Image

Many of us have experienced restrictions on movement and social contact during the pandemic. Talk about any restrictions that have especially affected you.

By "restrictions," I refer to the necessary precautions we must take to ensure that the virus does not spread to us or through us. My husband has Stage 4 prostate cancer. My cousin is in hospice with cancer. Our two families are the best of friends and the two of them (my cousin and my husband) used to have gigs playing guitar together a few times a year. We used to go to listen to live music, in town and out of town, and they hosted house concerts as well. None of this is safe during the pandemic, regardless of outdoor venues and social distancing guidelines. The photo is of a country road in Southwest Illinois, taken yesterday evening on a drive. On a normal Saturday evening, we would have been accompanied by my cousin and his wife, and our destination would have been somewhere to listen to music. While we are fortunate to have classic VWs to take out for a ride, and being able to afford the gasoline, it is still a lonely road. The sun is setting on their lives, and we can't spend these last days together doing what we all love.