One day at a time - my personal Holy Grail

What do I write when all around me seems to be going nuts with the impact of the coronavirus? Here's a smattering from my little corner of the blogosphere...

It's St Patrick's Day and my nephew, Luke is 20 today. I sent him a birthday message, saying that this will hopefully be the only birthday in his life where he'd be turning cartwheels to receive toilet paper as a gift 😏

My son Andrew is in the UK visiting new fiance Ruth. He has another week to go before he heads home. A lot can happen in a week if this past one is anything to go by. As things currently stand, if he arrived home today, he'd have to self-isolate for fourteen days. He's just had time off from work, so I can't imagine they'll be too impressed at another two weeks absence, but then again, he works in a shopping centre ... if we're all self-isolating, then businesses will be lacking customers to look after. He was about to start a second job to help pay for their upcoming wedding and visa expenses, but same deal - self-isolating means no one will be going to clubs. No customers, no jobs. The impact is far reaching.

We're still trying to work out how he self isolates from us when he gets home, as we all live together in a very small cottage. Looks like he may have to head off to Bountiful for a while. Who would have thought when we bought the farm, one of its many purposes would be as a type of quarantine station? My boss is in the UK also, and he'll have to isolate from his wife and three kids on his return. Might have to send him to the farm as well! 

My stepdad is suffering from cancer. He's recovering from surgery and The Cancer Council have recommended a strict cleanliness routine for the bathroom and toilet as he undergoes the ongoing treatment which is about to begin. My parents are having the same struggles as everyone else getting the necessaries to make this a reality. Cam and I did a shop for them yesterday in Goulburn, trying to get whatever we could for them - and even though we knew our reasons were legit, you become all the more aware of how people look at you when you're purchasing particular items. I wonder how many tall tales the staff are receiving alongside the real ones for justifying purchases?

And of course, the Holy Grail was still unattainable - toilet paper and hand sanitiser.

But there are always the glimmers of hope.

When doing the shopping for my mum, I was on the phone to her asking her what she needed and letting her know what I could find and what I couldn't. I felt more than a bit scatterbrained and stressed, and a lovely man who was trying to replenish the shelves was so helpful to me, as was a lady at the self serve checkout when the machine wouldn't co-operate with us. Both shared how crazy things were at present, but both remained friendly and helpful which meant a lot to the frazzled me 💛

We have been customers of our mechanic Mark and his wife Helen from Westgas for about ten years now. They are lovely people and have also looked after Andrew when he has been home and needed car advice or repairs. We dropped our car in for a registration inspection last week, and of course the chat turned to coronavirus. I shared about my stepdad's cancer and the difficulties my parents were having in accessing the basics, and the stress it was causing them both. Helen mentioned she was sure she had a bottle of sanitiser in her medicine cabinet at home and we made light of it, amazed at how something so commonplace had become so valuable so quickly. When we went to pick up the car later that day, there was a little package waiting for us - a bottle of sanitiser, labelled 'for Tracey's Mum' 💛

I've always been a bit of a worrier, and the Holy Grail for me has always been the ability to live one day at a time. Right now there are a million questions in my mind but all are focused on the future - will Andrew be able to get home? Will Ruth be able to leave the UK? Will my stepdad's cancer treatment be able to go ahead? Will there be a wedding? What if my employer shuts down? Will I or someone close to me get coronavirus? What will that mean?

I'm tempted here to make a joke about toilet paper, but I know to deflect with humour is just one of my defence mechanisms. What I will be trying to do is find my personal Holy Grail - to just look at each day and no further. Today I am okay. I have what I need, and what I don't I can manage without, today.

Instead of relying on the memes coming into my social media feed, I thought I'd create my own.

We've had no gardenias all summer due to the heat and smoke. Today, flowers. 

True to my word that there's a song for every occasion, I always enjoy the adventure I go on to find the right one for each post. I can't say I knew the song well, but I did know of one that seemed perfect, and it's One Day At A Time, Sweet Jesus. I went in search and found this version by Lynda Randle, and having been a singer since my teens, I do admit to favouring a woman's voice with a rich low range. She sure has it. (I did scratch my head at the microphone held by one of the backup singers though ...?). This version had the lyrics on the screen (not something I usually include) but it was hard to go past it when I saw this in the second verse:

So much pushing and shoving, and it's crowding my mind ... 

My search for the perfect song was done. Enjoy!

Tracey 💛

With thanks to the YouTube channel of Gaither Music TV for Lynda Randle.