CityView Magazine

12 | April 2020 A F A M I L Y M A T T E R S The Corona Chronicles BY CLAIRE MULLEN A s of today, the day I'm sitting down to write, there are two confirmed coronavirus cases in Cumberland County. By the time you read this column, there likely will be more. Who knows how many? Our circumstances will have changed even more drastically than they already have. I like to think that those changes will be for the better, but it seems that might be desperately wishful thinking. I have a lot of questions, as I'm sure all of us do. I wonder if my children will be back to school – real, wonderful school, with their patient, smiling (certified!) teachers, colorful, organized classrooms and productive schedules that most certainly don't include a midday, two- hour break for Cheetos, fruit punch and Disney Plus. On the day of the dreaded school cancellation announcement, my sweet and ever-enthusiastic kindergartner took it upon herself to name our fledgling homeschool "Sunflower Academy." She explained that she chose the name aer my favorite flower, since I am her new teacher, aer all. I had to stop her from taping to our front door an enormous banner with my cellphone number and "Sunflower Academy – Call us if you need to!" emblazoned in Crayola crayon. Let me tell you friends, aer just our first week, the sunflower is wilting. I'm no gardener, but I think this flower might need some wine. I wonder if my husband's local dental practices will be open at all. He and his partners have already sent several of their health-compromised employees home on paid leave and transitioned to emergency care only, in an effort to keep their patients pain-free and out of our potentially overwhelmed hospital emergency departments. I've never seen him quite so concerned, and we've missed him at the dinner table. We've bent our household rule of sit-down, unplugged family supper so that he can work late and come home to hole up with his laptop and a reheated plate to field video conferences with his team to try to figure out what the heck they are going to do. I wonder when I will be able to give my dad, a 61-year- old physician, a real hug. My immediate family, accustomed to frequent gatherings, consists of a school nurse, a dentist, a cardiac physician assistant, a pediatrician and a fitness director of a large gym. And then there's me. (Hey, not everyone can ace biology). My wise father, the guiding light of our clan, sent a difficult group text message to all of us earlier this week suggesting that it's best that we all stay in our respective corners until this terrible pandemic has subsided. In the midst of all the uncertainty, isolation and upheaval, there has been so Sunflower Academy

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