The appointment had been set several weeks in advance. However, when the day finally arrived, a winter storm was passing through. Most people stayed home for the day as they should. But my father was very eager to get his 2nd vaccination shot and any further delays would have been hard to deal with.
So we got in the car and we drove to the Military Hospital located 30 minutes north of where my dad lives. Many other local vaccination appointments were re-scheduled. But we did not hear from the veterans hospital, so we were determined to make it to his 10am appointment.
It was a difficult day to travel, but we were so glad that we made the effort and were successful in getting to the hospital so my dad could be vaccinated against this terrible virus.
As of this date, my dad has stayed in his house for over a year because of the pandemic and his high-risk age and health conditions. The only exceptions were during the summer when we had two small family gatherings outdoors.
We did not gather as a family for Thanksgiving or Christmas last year. And we don’t know how many holidays he has left with us. But at least now that he is fully vaccinated, we can begin to get back to some sort of “normal.”
So we are very hopeful that 2021 will be a good year. Once everyone is vaccinated by this summer, we can get back to living and enjoying life together again without worrying if we might get sick, or that we might pass on a virus to someone else. In my dad’s case, someone who would likely die if he were to contract this disease prior to getting vaccinated.