Barbara Alvarez – Alone, Together

Barbara Alvarez is a freelance writer and artist who live in Las Cruces.

(April 15-2020) I am the oldest of five sisters. All of us are close. One sister lives with her husband and two children in Albuquerque. Another sister lives on the Missile Range (White Sands Missile Range) where she also works, troubleshooting computer issues.

This leaves three of us—two live in Sonoma Ranch and I live in downtown Las Cruces. Our mom, 87 years beautiful and young, still lives in Las Cruces.

Mom, my Albuquerque sister, her husband and I drove to Colorado Springs at the end of February so we could take part in my granddaughter’s third birthday.

Mom rode back to Albuquerque with my sister and her hubby. I stayed because I had planned to visit for the week with my older son, Joseph and his family.

At the beginning of March, we were hearing worrisome reports about corona virus—officially named “COVID-19.” At that point, we were still free to move around as we pleased—going to stores, for a hike at Garden of the Gods and even to Olive Garden to celebrate my birthday, which fell two days before Miabella’s birthday (my granddaughter). We were being careful already; we just weren’t staying at home and self-isolating from the world outside my son’s home.

As I prepared to fly from Denver to Albuquerque, my daughter-in-law, Melody and her mom, Delores, told me they wanted me to take vinyl gloves with me, along with a few sanitizing wipes. “Wear the gloves when you get to your gate and wipe everything down.”

I did. I wiped my seat and armrests down at the boarding gate; when I got on the plane (whew!) I wiped my seat, the armrests and the tray. (Oh. I did see two or three fellow travelers wearing face masks.) I landed in Albuquerque, where my sister and brother-in-law picked me up. I spent the night at their house, then resumed my trip home the next morning.

I have asthma and allergies. The asthma means I have one of those underlying health conditions that require me to be extra-careful in whatever I do every day. I drove home, making only one stop and, when I got home, I just stayed there. The cats and I bonded and they knew that I wasn’t going anywhere (nope, not now).

After I got up, fed the cats and started my day, I began watching and listening to the “Today Show,” where I realized things were becoming much worse. I had gotten home on Sunday, March 8th. A little more than two weeks later, on March 23rd, New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan-Grisham announced a stay at home order, which required New Mexicans and visitors to the state to adhere to certain conditions. Gov. Lujan-Grisham revised this order on April 6th, extending it to April 30, 2020.

This mandatory order means that we can only go out for for reasons that are essential for our welfare, health or safety. No going to restaurants or shopping. No hitting High Desert Brewery for a night out with friends.

My sisters and mom had planned to have a belated get-together to celebrate my birthday. On Saturday morning, I got a text. “Rather than go out to eat and risk exposing mom and anyone who has health issues, we’re eating at mom’s.” I texted back that I was fine with that. A couple hours later, another text came in—one of my sisters thought she was coming down with a cold. So, to prevent exposing our mom, we just canceled our get-together.

We are still under this stay at home order. Trump has come to an agreement with members of his COVID-19 task force and a group of business people who are assisting with plans to “reopen” the country. (As if you reopen the U.S. like you reopen a store that’s been closed.)

Do I like this plan? No. It’s too soon and cases in New Mexico, as well as other states, are still rising. Fast. As soon as the first phase goes into place, we’re going to see new cases of COVID-19—lots of them.

All states and territories need to remain under stay at home orders. We need much more testing to tease out those asymptomatic carriers so they can be told of their status—I’m sure they don’t want to give others a potentially deadly virus. Once we see that cases of this virus have dropped and stayed down for several weeks—then we can start taking about slowly getting the country to a new normal.

Speaking of “new normal,” to me, this means we aren’t going to roar back, opening up every store, mall and restaurant in the country all at once. Small businesses have been decimated by this pandemic, despite all the emergency help (more on that later). Until we have treatments and a working vaccine, we are ALL at danger of getting this virus and dying.

I have several friends who suspect they have had it, given descriptions of the coronavirus symptoms. I don’t want to get sick. I know my mother doesn’t; nor do my sisters or their families.

What does this mean for me? I have been an independent contractor for 11 years. Working from home is my normal and I will continue this. I don’t go out often, so I don’t miss that. Much.

What gets to me is the worry. My sons live in Colorado and Arizona—and both states have been hit harder than New Mexico. They are both taking precautions to protect themselves and their loved ones. I worry about my friends, one of whom is immunocompromised.

Mornings were the hardest for me, with worry and some sadness. I don’t like feeling sad so I remembered my adult coloring book and pencils/markers/paints. I have colored a few pages. This requires me to focus on something else so there’s no room for worrying about this pandemic. Right now, all I can do is work, color and pray.