What? Me Worry? Getting Back to Normal

Happy Immunity Day! It’s been 14 days since Mike and I got our second Pfizer vaccine, and I’m celebrating by leading a memoir-writing class in person this afternoon.

Luna’s not worried.

The last memoir-writing class I taught in person met 13 months ago. It is downright amazing how quickly we all adjusted to using Zoom and meeting online. So comfortable that, as much as I hate to admit it, I’m feeling a little anxiety over physically attending class in a few hours. A story on CNBC tells me this is normal –sort of.

More than a year into the pandemic, people have become accustomed to the lives they’ve built and the routines they’ve created in their “Covid caves” and are not looking forward to a return to normal.

For some, this comes from an extreme fear of the disease, or anxiety about reacclimating into society.

Others have found that the pandemic has brought about positive changes in their lives, and they’re afraid of losing what they’ve gained.

My anxiety has little to do with the COVID virus: today’s class meets at Admiral-at-the-Lake, a Chicago senior housing facility where every resident and all staff members received their vaccines in February. I’ve been fully vaccinated, my writers have all been fully vaccinated, we all can meet in the conference room around one table and, get this: read essays with our masks off. So why am I nervous? It’s the little stuff.

How did I used to get there every week? What’s the address again? Do I have the right cash to tip the cab driver? What time should I leave so I get there on time? What should I wear? Will my good pants still fit? What do I need to bring? Where is my lipstick? In class we pass Scrabble tiles around to see who reads first, second, third…where on earth did I stash my little zippered bag of Scrabble tiles after classes were cancelled last year? Will my bus pass still work? My Seeing Eye dog has only been to the Admiral once or twice, will she get me into the lobby alright? What prompt should I assign for next week? Is my iPhone fully charged?

I look forward to coming home this afternoon, rereading this post and wondering what I was so worried about. But that comes later. Now, I’d better start getting ready.