most of you will be ok

The panic and gloomy expressions of despair over staying cooped up with self-isolation decisions some are making are somewhat amusing I have to say. To all of you newbies to the lifestyle I've been living for over 4 decades, I say, welcome, come on in, it's not that bad!

Making peace with the cards you're dealt has always been my mantra and it's been some of the best advice I've ever given myself. These cards are the only ones you're ever going to get so you may as well deal with them. I got married very young and had no idea what I was doing. So when it all went to hell and everything was taken away from me, my little family, my house and furniture, my wife and son, peace of mind and all I thought was my future, I just set about making decisions that would change the course of my life and ensure I would never go through that level of loss ever again. Anyone can do this. You just deal with it.

The excruciating pain of losing that life almost cost me my life. It forced me to have to make peace with the fact that marriage was not a viable option for me. The entire little family that I was trying to hold together and take care of was taken from me with one knock at the door on a Saturday afternoon when I was handed paperwork that instructed me to vacate my house in 10 days and take nothing but my personal belongings. I guess what I'm saying is the worst thing you can imagine can happen in an instant and you can be left to fend for yourself in the blink of an eye and most people have this ability inside to adjust and get by. This is a virus, an illness, and for most, not the end of the world. 

So if you're afraid you'll run out of toilet paper remember you can always strip down naked and scoot around the backyard when you need to. (providing there are no stickers) Food, I order from a place called Freshly.com and it's chef-prepared meals that are surprisingly pretty damn good. About 10 bucks a meal and you choose 4, 9, or more meals a week and they are delivered to your door. There are a lot of these places. I just don't have the right temperament to go to the grocery store during all this. And if you don't want to do this and have to skip a few meals a week well, some of you could do well with skipping a meal or two so there's that..

I've always gone to Sam's for other things and had to buy double and triple what I wanted but NOW having all those extra things here are keeping me from worrying about stuff. Maybe you should do some of that too. You have too many bars of soap, so what. 

Don't worry about spending some time alone and away from all the rush towards the end. It will come soon enough but it probably won't be tomorrow. Being alone isn't all that bad and avoiding all the heartache and frustrations out there with everyone else who is trying to make impossible things work, is a bonus. Most of you will be OK.

Now back to Andy Griffith and Gunsmoke..