Margie's family

This morning I joined Margie, her daughter Lucy, and her son Dennis and his partner who are visiting from Manhattan, for coffee and pastries. We made a posed portrait of Margie with two of her three children (Extra), but my favorite photo of the day is this unposed moment between Margie and Lucy.

Dennis is a physician whose specialty is infectious diseases, so naturally I asked him about Omicron. He says that so far, those who are young and fit and have had their third or “booster” vaccine are holding up well against Omicron. We chatted about best practices. In the USA we know that whenever we leave our homes, we’re going to encounter people who are unvaccinated. That’s why one of many reasons why we all need to wear masks, especially indoors where droplets accumulate. 

If we’ve been in situations where we could have been exposed, or if we have symptoms, we should get tested or do home tests. I wish I’d bought a few home tests when they were available for $12. Now local stores have sold out, and thanks to price-gouging, the online price is between $40 and $100 per test, but there are still free drive-through testing centers, which is fine for people who have cars and a further insult to those who don't. We all mused that we will probably never go “back to normal.” Masks and testing will continue to be part of our lives. There will be other variants, other viruses.

Of course people over 60 and those who have health issues are more vulnerable and should be wary of social gatherings, and some people can’t have vaccines because they already have compromised immune systems. If it were a simple one-size-fits-all issue, we wouldn’t be talking about it two years into the pandemic. However Dennis says we shouldn’t underestimate the importance of human contact and human touch. He’s concerned about increasing alcoholism and depression in people who are lonely and isolated. “We’re social animals. We need human contact.” He’s Margie’s son. I’m not a bit surprised to hear him say that.