Today’s story started from a text from my sister – it’s Australia Day, a public holiday, and in Queensland, vulnerable kids and those of essential workers went back to school this week. My sister rang me on Saturday just gone, and borrowed some money (yeah, not getting into why I continue to say yes), however it was to help her get my nephew back to school on Monday. So he attended school on Monday just gone, got sent home on Tuesday (yesterday) with a runny nose – the Omicron variant is rampant in most major towns and cities along the eastern seaboard at this point. She then texts me with news that one of her friends that she has seen recently, has Covid, and has come up in a rash. She herself has started a new job, picking fruit, and has also come up in a rash, and asked me what she should do. So, at this point, I am double boosted – yep, you read that correctly – our Government is pushing for the country to get boosted, and I have been down that path twice – but in all fairness, I have MS, and getting Covid, could impact my life significantly. So, when I give her the advice that seems most reasonable, and what other reasonable people would have told her – which is go and get a PCR test – her response was to blame the rash on stress, choose to keep her son home from school for the week, and complain that she is no longer in the industry that she used to work in. There is no emoji that describes the expression I have!
I feel sad that no matter what I say, there is no way to explain the impact that her narrative has on both her and I. I’ve said this before, I can’t offer a labotomy, and cannot undo the damage of a lifetime of trauma. I do feel that the only option is the sad path that others have taken – walk away. Is there a path for a trauma-bonded victim?! And the best words I have to explain all this is sad?!
On a different note, Dylan Alcott has just won our Australian of the Year – the first time in the Award’s 62 year history that a Person with a Disability has won the Award! I look forward to the year of conversations that he will undoubtedly create.
Doing Life Differently 