Jubilance Founder, Kathy Cash, talks about her story getting her Vaccine.
I never even felt the miracle fluid enter my arm but I felt the pang of all that led to this moment. In what seemed like an eternity for me to get to that chair all I could think of were the people who had made this possible. The scientists worldwide, the medical community, the essential workers including my grocery clerks, jobs and businesses that were lost and more importantly the people who were so ill and those who ultimately died. I also thought of my own daughter who was one of the first to have COVID back when we called it Coronavirus and nursed herself to health after 26 days of fever all alone in her NYC apartment. And my other daughter who had the UK variant and quarantined alone while working in Europe.
I thought of NYC and the cheers for their city healthcare and essential workers every night at 7:00pm as we listened over Zoom calls with our daughter. I thought of all the artists that reached out to share their talents and help relieve our angst like Brian Stokes Mitchell hanging out his window on the Upper West Side singing “To Dream the Impossible Dream” and Andrea Bocelli’s Easter performance that aired live from Italy.
It only took seconds for the shot to be administered and my nurse tried to console my sobs as she thought she had hurt my arm or that I was scared. Trying to comfort me she asked me if I was going to see my grandchildren. I answered “no” as I don’t have any but continued to sob through my double mask and I told her I would see my family. With others waiting patiently for their shot I quickly left her makeshift nursing station and muttered thank you through my tears while searching for my chair in the waiting room for the fifteen minute observation. I took a seat six feet from my husband who looked up at me as I was bawling and barely able to catch my breath with the masks on wondering what was wrong with me. As I sat in my chair, I cried for the teachers and students, graduations, birthdays, weddings and funerals long missed.
I know over the past year I spent a lot of time talking about what I will do when I get my vaccine, where I will travel, dinner parties I will host inside my house…..but at that moment, this moment all I could think about were the dedicated people I will never know who tirelessly worked to give me that shot and so many others like me worldwide.
