2020 is coming to a close as the entire planet has been punched in the gut, struck in the heart, and beaten over the head with the reality that a pandemic has locked on to the world as we know it and tossed it around like an egg in a laundromat dryer.
In my world, 2020 saw the passing of Mr. Digby, my faithful canine companion for 13 of his 17 years. Within weeks of his passing, Chez Rockwell welcomed Mr. Malcolm, a Havanese who’s brought many smiles and chuckles and is a source of consternation for diva Miss Lexie, the geriatric Maltese. Unconcerned about COVID, they’re only interested in food, snacks, toys and naps. I, on the other hand, must be concerned about the virus and what it has done and what it can do. Pre-existing conditions compel me to be super proactive. I wish more among us would do the same.
We, like everyone, are adjusting to a new way of being, of doing. It’s been a challenge for so many, particularly those who define themselves within their ‘social butterfly’ network of friends and associates. Those days are not gone, but have undergone many changes to accommodate a daily presence our world. COVID 19 demands that we really take stock of how we will go forward. In doing that, we must respect the needs and rights of others, particularly when we’re out and about in the community’s public spaces. Free yourself from the ‘it’s all about me’ attitude.
I leave 2020 having received Ability New Brunswick’s Media Commitment to Community Award and have to say it was quite an honour to be acknowledged for something I’ve been doing for decades; dispensing in newspapers and magazines, words of wisdom based on my life and living as a person with disability. From 1956 to 2011, Ability NB was known as The Canadian Paraplegic Association, NB Division. I worked there in the 70s, learning a great deal about the inner mechanics of an agency that’s been serving persons with disability for decades. Over time, as the nature of their focus changed, so too, the name changed. As CPA began catering to the needs of people beyond those with spinal cord injuries, addressing the needs of young people with a range of challenges to mobility, from the very young to the very old, it reasoned that a more ‘inclusive’ name reflect what the agency does. And so was born Ability New Brunswick. It works.
‘Back in the day’, I was acquainted with several of their vocational rehabilitation counsellors who provided valuable services to clients, from young men and women looking to upgrade skills after an injury that changed their way of living from walking to wheeling to assisting people trying to find architecturally accessible housing while upgrading education to enhance employment potential. Invaluable services to expand growth of community.
COVID restrictions have significantly impacted those who already cope with the isolation that disability poses. Youngsters with disabilities that affect learning and ability to interact easily with peers feel the pain of COVID confinement. Supports available during the school year are lost to them as they’ve become part of the home schooled with parents who aren’t always up to the challenge. All of these changes affect everyone in different ways.
The challenge for many parents is that their youngsters simply don’t understand what is happening and why they can’t carry on as always. The same is true for seniors living in care and assisted living facilities who rely on emotional connection with family and friends as a key feature of their day. COVID has taken that away. Their adult children struggle with how to cope with all that anxiety coming at them from several directions at once. It’s debilitating.
Mental health professionals can do only so much; it’s critical that people get on board with the reality that everyone must do their part, recognizing that just one thing, wearing a mask, will save many lives/day. Just DO it. Children are carefree. Adults are careless. It’s time to adjust our thinking about COVID. Perhaps using the inauguration date of Joseph Biden as a target date, wear a mask til then the 20th of January 2021, paying attention to numbers of COVID cases in your area. They will go down. Don’t give the virus an opportunity to piggyback on you. Acknowledge that a piece of fabric covering your nose and mouth for a few hours a day is not a political statement designed to control you — it’s a health care initiative meant to save your life and the lives of those around you. Be a change maker so that COVID can change direction. Down, down, down!
Carla MacInnis Rockwell is a freelance writer and disability rights advocate living outside Fredericton, NB with Miss Lexie, a rambunctious Maltese and Mr. Malcolm, the boisterous Havanese. She can be reached via email at Carla MacInnis Rockwell
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