600 days today!

Happy birthday to me! We've been shielding for 600 days today. This is certainly not what, or how I was hoping to celebrate today! When we locked ourselves down earlier than was mandated back in March 2020, due to rising Covid-19 cases, I really struggled to imagine how we'd get through 3 months of confinement, however here we are 19 months later. 

Even though shielding guidance ended in July, along with most of the compulsory mask wearing, we're still unable to get some kind of normality back in our lives. When the three weakest systems of the most precious person in your life are the very ones that the virus targets, we feel that we have no choice except to continue shielding him. This is our normality now. Although we've had plenty of practice on and off, over the past 23 years of trying to minimise Harrison's exposure to infections (especially during the winter months), it's still tough. 

He's had 3 primary doses of the vaccine so we would hope any Covid infection would be mild but we can't risk finding out. The rapid increase in rates again, together with all the other winter bugs coming to the fore, make us feel extremely anxious. Just as there seems to be a light at the end of the tunnel, there's a twist and our 'freedom day' is on hold again. Living out of town, it's mainly when we've been to in-person medical appointments in London that our isolation really hits me. It's surreal seeing the bustling streets with everyone going about their business just like we used to pre-Covid. 

However, I had some lovely surprises today; it was a good job that I was sitting down at the time of the first one! Harrison wandered into the kitchen before 8:30am. You might think that's quite late, but believe me, for him, that's very early! He doesn't even get up that early on Christmas Day any more! He mis-read his watch and thought it was 9:30am. After 600 days of staying at home, our schedule has completely gone out of the window and that's a huge change for somebody like me who thrives on structure! Not only did Harrison get up super early, but he'd swapped out his usual t-shirt and lounging trousers for a very smart shirt and jeans. These actions (even if one was accidental) really did set up my day to feel special. 

The weather was so nice that I couldn't pass up the opportunity to go out for a walk in public; our first spur of the moment outing. We had a brisk walk around a local lake and I insisted on taking a couple of photos to mark the occasion!

I won't talk about lunch; we'd forgotten to order something special in our weekly online grocery shop but Harrison did a great job of carrying in a cake with a lighted candle on it. A simple act? Not when you're afraid of flames and struggle to carry anything with two hands and walk steadily. I really appreciated the effort this took for him. An added bonus was that he even uttered the words to that well known birthday song! Those who know him well, will know that he won't even listen to music with words; let alone sing them!

Later this afternoon I had a message asking whether it would be ok to give me a video call just after 5pm. Another fabulous surprise having an impromptu chat with two lifelong friends (one in a completely different time zone). Along with several other lovely messages, this really has been the best birthday for a few years.  

Thank you to everybody who has taken the time to send me birthday wishes. They are hugely appreciated x