Isolated within quarantine Isolation

The Time which we currently live in, are strange, dangerous and unpleasant. Almost like it is directly taken from a Holywood production (specifically, the excellent ‘Contagion’ movie). COVID-19 (or Corona in every deal human language) is terrorizing the world, leaving a horrible trail of anxiety, illnesses and deaths. To combat this global pandemic, we are, for over a year, facing a host of different measures to reduce the impact of this terrible decease, such as social distancing, lock-down, an night-clock, the closure of schools, and much more… And now Corona has struck in Casa Timmermans.

February started so well: Schools were opened again, national infection-rates were declining and we were able to properly celebrate Daniel’s birthday (a bit). During the January lockdown he already specified that (in the case that the school-closure was canceled), he would like to have a ‘mad-science’ birthday party. Ever since Sinterklaas gave him his first experiment-kit, he has been crazy about wacky science. Naturally, being a full-blown geek (and scientist) this heats my heart tremendously. And so… ‘Professor Cosmos’ and his ‘vortex canon’ truly made Daniels celebration one that he will remember for a long-long time. Now naturally you might think that Corona hit during this festive event. But luckily ‘Fortune is with the bold’. In fact, the visit of Professor COSMOS provided us with a much needed alleviation from the dreariness of ‘Blue January’, and provided us with some mental protection to face what was to come.

But as every cloud has a silver lining, so does all fortune come to an end at some point. Only a couple of days after the birthday party, one of his friends turned ill and finally was diagnosed with corona. Immediately our thoughts strayed if perhaps through his birthday we might have spread the infection simultaneously to all of Daniels friends. Fortunately, however it turned out that there were more than enough days between the first-day-of-symptoms and the actual birthday. We could not have been happier, though this happiness was not to last.

On Thursday evening, I (to my big fright) suddenly started to develop a runny nose together with an elevated pressure on my ear-drums. Together with the positive corona test of Daniel’s friend this told me enough.. Corona had arrived in Casa Timmermans. Naturally, the next day we kept our boys at home not to infect others in anticipation of the test we would perform. While for me and Daniel, this would not be something out of the ordinary (having had already two last summer due to Daniel’s hospitalization at the time), it would be the first for Ingrid and Ruben. Therefore nothing could have made me more proud, when Daniel specified HE would go first… to show his brother and mother how it was done.. #PROUDFATHER #AMAZINGBROTHER! And so, we followed Daniels advise, for which both the boys obtained their official ‘Bravery’ – Diploma, and I can say it was rightfully earned. Damn, that test is nasty!
Naturally, when it rains it pours.. or in our case… how to make quarantine even more annoying..

Silently and doubtfully, I sit in front on my computer screen, looking at the results of our test.. Some of which are positive (mine and Daniels) and some of which are strangely enough negative (Ingrid and Ruben). Naturally there is always the possibility that they might not have been infected (this time) by Corona (in fact this happened to another family we know well), but I consider those chances to be minute. In any case, it poses us with a little dilemma,.. to split-up our family to ensure we accidently not infect our healthy other-half or assume that we all are contaminated anyways but that Ingrid and Ruben were simply tested to early (and hence had too low infection levels to be detected). A Salomon’s verdict if there ever was any…

Finally we decide for the option that might ensure we get through this thing the fastest. Namely, Daniel and I will confine ourselves to the attic, while Ruben en Ingrid will go in quarantine on the ground-floor and (the first floor only use for sleeping). Daniel is naturally distraught… torn between sadness (on how he is going to miss his baby brother) and rage (on how he really does not want to have Corona). I can honestly say, this is one of those times as a parent that breaks me to my bone… In particular because there is nothing I can do to help him, apart from hugging him for 45minutes… Finally he accepts our predicament and (with a little help from Duckhunt) starts being my lovely little sunshine again..
What a visionary I was… (sorry for the self-indulgement) … when a year ago, I finally decided to redecorate the attic into a play-ground for the boys.. Lego-trains, Lemonade-dispenser, oldschool Nintendo entertainment system and the works. Being in isolation (or.. ‘camping-indoors-in-the-attic’ as we call it) might have been much worse if not for these things… Naturally only having mild symptoms for us (runny nose for Daniel , and also a slightly elevated temperature for me) helps in this regard. In addition, my heroine-of-a-wife is making sure that we do not have anything to want, while staying on the attic.. where she is treating us to cake’s and delicious food and snacks… It makes our isolation not only bearable but also highlights why we are in isolation.. to protect them!

Alas.. to all ‘good’ things come an end.. In an second test Ingrid performed two days later than our original, Ingrid was tested positive. While somewhere in our mind we already anticipated this, receiving the news is still a big shock. We do not wish upon anybody to have to suffer like this. Fortunately she presently also only has relatively mild symptoms. And as ‘geluk by een ongeluk’ (as the Dutch say translating to ‘Fortune by disaster’), our own isolation with a quarantine isolation is over. Our first true family hug since three days could not have been more bitter sweet.