A few weeks ago CNN's Brooke Baldwin contracted the coronavirus. It's been a hellish few weeks for her since, but she's now in recovery, almost back to where she was. And she was lucky, her symptoms were never life-threatening, like so many others.
Source: CNN
It took a full two-week beating on my body. I went to some very dark places, especially at night. Evenings would bring on an eerie melancholy, which was particularly odd for me -- a glass-half-full/chemically blessed kind of gal.
But under the influence of coronavirus, as each day came to a close, I would often cry, unable to stave off the sense of dread and isolation I felt about what was to come.
I was fighting constant body aches. In the evenings, I started a habit of climbing into the bathtub for 45 to 60 minutes just to try to use the hot water to distract my skin from the all-encompassing ache that would begin in my lower extremities -- the kind of ache that only two extra-strength Tylenol could eventually dull. Looking back, my sense of time feels warped and inexact. Some days crawled by tortuously slowly, while others disappeared unaccounted for in my memory, lost in the wash of emotion, sleep, and illness.
Brooke Baldwin's essay ends on a hopeful note, that she's gained a new appreciation for what it means to show up for one another.
It was overwhelming in a way I have never felt in my life. And it showed me how -- even when the world stops and takes a collective breath -- we're all capable of showing up for one another. And for that, I will forever be grateful.
So, yeah ... eff Covid. But also ... thank you? I wouldn't wish this virus upon anyone, but I hope as my smell and taste and some sense of normalcy start to return, that I will also hold onto the clarity and connection I found while I was so damn sick.
Here is her interview earlier Monday with Brianna Keilar:
