My recent trip to Florida was the first time I had flown since the COVID-19 outbreak. I was diligent in wearing an N-95 mask the entire time and did my best to be as cautious as possible during the entire trip. But alas, three days after returning home from Florida, I didn’t feel well. I had those “at home” COVID tests that the government had been sending out in the mail, so I put it to use. Ten minutes later, I had my answer. I had the COVID antibodies in my system.

I have never been vaccinated, and that is a personal decision I chose to make. So seeing the positive test results for COVID was sobering. It truly is the luck of the draw as to the variety of COVID one gets, and the corresponding symptoms.

My daughter and her boyfriend both caught it over Thanksgiving week of 2021. They came through with flying colors, so I prayed that I would have a similar experience.

I never got a fever. I did have an upset stomach and that was partly the reason why I decided to test for COVID. In truth, though, I had an event that I was supposed to attend last Saturday, July 2, and I needed a negative COVID test result to gain admission. When my at-home test came back positive, I decided it was best to stay home and quarantine. I ended up losing my ability to taste anything, but that only lasted 24 hours. I quarantined for eight days, constantly checking my temperature and doing additional tests.

Since I never had a fever, I quarantined beginning Thursday, June 30 through Friday, July 8. One of the symptoms I did have was a sharp throbbing pain that would come and go in my left temple. I have no clue what that was all about.

I needed groceries, and Amazon was the place I turned to. I was pleasantly surprised that the prices for the food items were not that exorbitant. The first day I was going to order, the only delivery times were late in the evening, so I decided to wait until early the next morning and get a delivery window that was a little bit better for me. Most of the grocery items were good, but the fresh mushrooms lacked appeal and the carrots had a freshness date that made them suspect. But Amazon quickly refunded my money for those two things.

I would highly recommend that every household get and maintain those free COVID tests. I Googled “free COVID test” and got the link to those from the post office. Those free test kits are especially useful because of the kids. My grandchildren have undergone several COVID tests at their doctor’s office, and they are now paranoid about their noses getting swabbed. Plus anytime one is sick, you can at least test for COVID so that you know if you’ve had it or not. Based on the lack of symptoms I had, it could have been easy to have overlook it as a 24-hour bug. But because I know I had it, I knew all the precautionary steps to take.

Everyone is expected to get COVID at least once in their lifetime.