WE ALL CRAVE HUMAN CONTACT
Was Father's Day 2021 different from the one a year ago? Certainly there were some changes between the two. But as I reflect back on the past year, I see that most of those changes seem to be minor. They are more annoyances than major life-changing events.
For example, in 2020, I wasn't going to the grocery store. In fact, I wasn't going anywhere. I would use a store's or other delivery services instead. And Amazon became my best friend.
Perhaps the biggest change was that I could no longer go to the San Diego Air and Space Museum as I had the previous year. Having retired from the UC San Diego School of Medicine as professor of medicine at the end of April 2019, I pursued my side passion of air and space travel by becoming a docent at the museum. But it was closed because of COVID-19. So that was out. But perhaps that was a good thing — I used the time to finish a book I had been writing, “Serendipity: Utilizing Everyday Unexpected Events to Improve Your Life and Career.” And it was published this year.
I am also glad the fear of contracting COVID-19 is largely gone. But long before this year, I had become more comfortable. My wife and I reside at Belmont Village Sabre Springs, an assisted living facility. It does a miraculous job of protecting us from the virus, and in fact, no one on the assisted living and independent side of the facility got it. And I masked up and distanced like everyone else.
So then, what is the difference between this year and last? Since being vaccinated, I am now out and about, whereas last year that wouldn't have even been a consideration. I now go out to the grocery store, albeit with double masking and hand sanitizer. And the museum is again open, with me serving as a docent. We now have more people sitting together at meals at Belmont Village, so that conversations are more entertaining. And I am now even planning a trip to Durham, North Carolina.
But the main difference isn't the ability to go to the grocery store, or to the museum, or even cross-country. It isn't about sitting together at meals, or what type of activities I engage in. The main difference is the kind of contact I can now have with loved ones. Last year, I had a Zoom get-together with our three children and four grandchildren who are scattered across the country.
But this year, I went to my daughter's house here in San Diego, and I'll go to my other daughter's house in North Carolina in July. I fully expect to get hugs and kisses from all of my children and grandchildren. And I expect to take walks, holding hands, with my grandchildren. We all crave and need the human touch and comfort, that we can now have that we couldn't last year.
And that makes all the difference in the world.