{"id":14925,"date":"2021-05-27T12:31:53","date_gmt":"2021-05-27T16:31:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/briwebapp.net\/cfgxfm\/?p=14925"},"modified":"2021-05-27T14:41:07","modified_gmt":"2021-05-27T18:41:07","slug":"the-view-from-here-that-was-unexpected","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/briwebapp.net\/cfgxfm\/blogs\/afternoons\/2021\/05\/the-view-from-here-that-was-unexpected\/","title":{"rendered":"The View From Here – That Was Unexpected"},"content":{"rendered":"

I got my Covid-19 vaccine<\/a> this morning.<\/p>\n

I knew it was coming, but what I didn’t expect was the overwhelming emotion that came with it.\u00a0 \u00a0A sense of relief, of hope maybe?<\/p>\n

First of all, I’m not a fan of needles of any kind.\u00a0 I can work myself up into a bundle of anxiety over anything needle related.\u00a0 Blood work?\u00a0 I’ve passed out many times in the chair.\u00a0 I kept telling myself there was nothing to it, people get shots all the time. No big deal.\u00a0 “I’m a big girl”.\u00a0 \u00a0(smile)\u00a0 Funny how in some moments of anxiety or worry, no matter how old we are, we still wish we had someone to hold our hand and tell us it’s going to be okay.\u00a0 \u00a0It just so happens, today is my mom’s heavenly birthday, so she was already on my mind, but there was a part of me still longing for that reassurance you only get from a mom.\u00a0 \u00a0Weird, I know.<\/p>\n

As I made the drive this morning to the Pt. Edward Arena my mind was everywhere.\u00a0 I’m thinking about what this vaccine means in the grand scheme of themes.\u00a0 A step closer to a normal life again.\u00a0 Then there were a few moments of concern, like we have over anything we haven’t done before.\u00a0 How would my body react?\u00a0 Will it hurt?\u00a0 What if I DO pass out? (smile)<\/p>\n

I was worried, a little scared, and surprisingly emotional.\u00a0 \u00a0But so very ready to get this done.<\/p>\n

I got to the parking lot and from that point on it was so well organized.\u00a0 \u00a0There was that feeling of community, as car after car made it’s way into the parking lot.\u00a0 People got out, masked up, and walked to the entrance.\u00a0 Together.\u00a0 \u00a0All to get vaccinated against this virus that has taken so much from us over the last 15 months.\u00a0 \u00a0It felt good to be in a group.\u00a0 Even if we were six feet apart. And there seemed to be a lot of smiles and a sense of “we’re doing this together”.\u00a0 \u00a0It felt GOOD to see so many.<\/p>\n

It was a super easy to follow process.\u00a0 Amazing how efficiently it moved together.\u00a0 Everyone was so incredibly friendly and welcoming.\u00a0 \u00a0I got in, got registered\/ processed\/ answered some questions – and as soon as I sat in the chair, it was pretty much over.\u00a0 Painless.\u00a0 And nope, I didn’t pass out.\u00a0 Hours later and I still feel fine.<\/p>\n

It was the drive home that got to me.\u00a0 I was heading home, along the beautiful St. Clair River, taking in the beautiful weather and scenery, listening to the radio, and suddenly I was overcome with emotion.\u00a0 The tears started flowing as I realized the importance of the day.\u00a0 It meant so much more to me than I realized.<\/p>\n

How long have we waited for this vaccine?\u00a0 How long have we been living this pandemic life, missing family and friends, concerts, eating out, parties and weddings and social events?\u00a0 And all that everyday stuff in between.<\/p>\n

For the first time in a really, really long time<\/em> – I think I felt the hope of it.\u00a0 I think for the first time in a really, really long time I felt like maybe we really are<\/em> going to make it out of this.\u00a0 \u00a0I thought of my dad and step mom, my brother, and my friends – who I am missing so much – and I thought “THIS<\/em> is what today is all about.”<\/p>\n

One step closer to normal life.\u00a0 \u00a0It’s felt so far off for so long.\u00a0 I’ve watched as others received their first shot and I have read the posts from others surprised too, at just how emotional it was.<\/p>\n

We are so close<\/em> to the end of this.\u00a0 \u00a0I can’t wait to hug my dad and elbow my brother (smile – that’s what siblings do!)\u00a0 I can’t wait to make plans with my friends and sit in a restaurant for hours talking about nothing and everything.\u00a0 \u00a0The waitress hinting it’s time for us to leave so they can close.\u00a0 I want to sit in a movie theatre again and eat popcorn and ooh and ahh at the movie on the big screen and share the emotions of the film.\u00a0 \u00a0I want to wander the mall and find something cute to wear.\u00a0 \u00a0I want to not wear a mask everywhere I go and stand in a circle six feet apart from people.\u00a0 It’s coming.<\/p>\n

At the same time I think about all those things I can’t WAIT to do, I also feel a little bit anxious about that return to normal.\u00a0 Anybody else wonder how easily it will be to go back to the way things were?\u00a0 Because I’m not so sure I’m ready.\u00a0 \u00a0I already know that I am going to be socially awkward for a long time.\u00a0 I am a shy person.\u00a0 I had to really push myself to work in radio and be in front of people for my job.\u00a0 If I should meet you somewhere down the road, and I seem weird and uncomfortable, laugh it off and know that eventually I’ll get back to where I was.\u00a0 It just might take some time.\u00a0 My apologies in advance.<\/p>\n

There’s a lot that I’ve loved about staying home, and actually having to leave for work and get there on time?\u00a0 Hopefully there’s a two week grace period when things do re-open.<\/p>\n

One shot down.\u00a0 One to go.\u00a0 Already booked for September 16th.\u00a0 \u00a0Weird to look ahead and wonder what the world will look like in September.\u00a0 So many things we used to take for granted and that’s what we’re missing the most.\u00a0 Especially those people we love.<\/p>\n

A very big thank you\u00a0to each and every person that is involved in the vaccine clinics.\u00a0 What you are doing is incredible and is so greatly appreciated.\u00a0 Thank you for the smiles and making it so easy.<\/p>\n

We are so close to this being a memory that we can tell our grandkids, and our grandkids can tell their grandkids about our struggles and triumphs.<\/p>\n

As always – feel free to reach out to me anytime<\/p>\n

cbuchanan@blackburnradio.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I got my Covid-19 vaccine this morning. I knew it was coming, but what I didn’t expect was the overwhelming emotion that came with it.\u00a0 \u00a0A sense of relief, of hope maybe? First of all, I’m not a fan of needles of any kind.\u00a0 I can work myself up into a bundle of anxiety over","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":14931,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"featured_img_display":"Yes","footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14925","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-afternoons"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-19 01:01:57","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"react_link":"https:\/\/foxfm.com\/blogs\/afternoons\/2021\/05\/the-view-from-here-that-was-unexpected\/","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/briwebapp.net\/cfgxfm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14925","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/briwebapp.net\/cfgxfm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/briwebapp.net\/cfgxfm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briwebapp.net\/cfgxfm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briwebapp.net\/cfgxfm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14925"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/briwebapp.net\/cfgxfm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14925\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14928,"href":"https:\/\/briwebapp.net\/cfgxfm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14925\/revisions\/14928"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briwebapp.net\/cfgxfm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14931"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/briwebapp.net\/cfgxfm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14925"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briwebapp.net\/cfgxfm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14925"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briwebapp.net\/cfgxfm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14925"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}