The Lulac Edition #4,268, April 22nd, 2020

WRITE ON WEDNESDAY

Our "Write On Wednesday" logo

This week we hear from a health care provider and how they view their role as "essential". Exactly what is that term mean in a real time, day to day, minute by minute life? Here's Dr, Joe Leonardi with a personal story that I bet is very common.To all the health care providers, a big thank you!

"WHAT IT IS LIKE TO BE "ESSENTIAL"

Each morning I am woken by the pit in my stomach

It intensifies until I get out of bed

I go through my routine, the pit is still there

Breakfast, coffee, vitamins

Shower, shave, dress

I leave the house for work, the pit sends a pang

A stop at the store is necessary this morning

Mask on face, I enter

Wipe the shopping cart

Quickly make my way through

Hit hands with some type of sanitizer

Get to work, wash hands, put on different mask

See patients, see staff -- smile for the first time

We are in this together and all keep moving

Somedays the smile is genuine, other times it is another mask

Unless it touches my eyes, no one can see it

Humor and laughs are another veil

It is lunchtime, lock the doors, warm up a meal

Wash my hands for the 20th time

Eat alone, the pit is still there

Close my eyes for a little while

Get back a bit of sleep that eluded me the night before

Open for the afternoon, all the masks go back on

The routine is the same and it masks the pit

Wash hands that are dry and sore

Get home, wash hands again, and then a shower

I scrub and scrub and scrub

Eat dinner alone

Knowing I don't have to leave the house tomorrow

The pit is a bit decreased, but it is still there

Read, write, watch a bit of television

Pet my little dog, she knows I'm not the same

Her expressive face is a reflection of mine

To keep from tearing up, I need to look away

Coat my hands with Vaseline

Go to bed alone, the pit still there

Courage is not the absence of fear, it is management of that fear

Right now, for just a moment, I wish for the absence.