I decided not to go grocery shopping last night. I had a leek, a red bell pepper, cheese, and some pasta, and Alex said she’d bring dessert. I was already almost two hours late, not atypical for two scientists meeting for dinner, but this time the unplanned delay came from a department memo telling us to pick ‘essential’ lab members to come feed our birds if everyone else has to stay home to contain the coronavirus pandemic. I was selected.
The last time I saw Alex, I was holding her stuffed animal rabbit, drinking her tea and chocolate, and listening to my mother tell my sister and I that we would probably not see my grandmother conscious again but that we could come back down to Florida to maybe see her one more time and gather with family. I should have cooked Alex my special dinosaur pasta. I had gotten it for a bigger dinosaur fan, but had plenty. Alex commented on the nice wheel shapes we ate, but I would have preferred to share some dinosaurs.