SOL 14/31: She took me in!

On my second day in Seattle, I was exposed to Covid. We visited in someone's home for approximately two hours and she tested positive that evening. Suddenly all my plans took a nose dive. I did not want to stay with my friend who had a sore throat and cough. I did not want to stay with my friend who is leaving for Italy and a cruise right after our retreat. I did not want to expose her to the possibility that I might test positive down the road. Planned get-togethers with friends were cancelled. I think I would have just thrown in the towel and headed back home except that I have an appointment with my audiologist tomorrow morning. Oh, the challenges of our post pandemic world and the challenges of navigating medical challenges after a move.

In the middle of this quandary, I decided to call my friend, Nancy, who had Covid in January. She opened her door to me with no hesitation whatsoever. I've been here for five nights and if all goes well, I'll test negative again (no symptoms whatsoever) tomorrow morning. I'll go to my 7 am audiologist appointment and then head for the mountains for our annual book club retreat (some of us have been together for twenty-six years).

But I'm getting ahead of myself here. I wanted to write about the fun Nancy and I have shared for the past few days. We've been friends for twenty-seven years. She worked with me at the middle school. We've served together in organizations at church. She's the "chocolate queen" who coordinated our mass group ordering of Ghiradelli chocolate each fall. She was part of our foursome group of friends who traveled to Italy in 2019. She's stayed in touch despite my move across the country last summer. 

We've talked, enjoyed meals together, talked, shopped, talked, watched the Academy Awards, talked, watched movies, talked, played games (Five Crowns and a new-to-me version of Rummikub with tiles played horizontally AND vertically), talked, taken walks, had late night heart-to-heart chats, and risen in the morning for more talking. She's waited patiently while I've written blog posts, commented on slices, and spent time reading the book we'll be discussing on Friday night.

I'll wind up this post with a gigantic thank you to my friend, Nancy, who took me in and made this visit unforgettable in spite of my Covid exposure. We all need friends and Nancy's one of the good ones, a definite keeper, a talker just like me!