Many of you who have tried retirement will totally understand when I tell you that retirement can be boring. That is where I found myself last year.
While raising my garden, tending the chickens, going kayaking and fishing and doing the things other retirees do, I came up with the idea that I really wanted to get back into journalism. So, I called my friend Debbie and said to her “Hey, why don’t we start a newspaper?”
And The Augusta Press began.
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Over the past year, Debbie and I, along with our partners Connie and Joe and the incredible staff of writers we call the “dream team,” built not just a website, but what we are now seeing as the foundation of an Augusta institution. We are delivering the news and we are also training the next generation of journalists.
My little idea and my dream in life came true. When we got ready to launch last week, I was planning to celebrate with my colleagues and work to get our little rocket ship off the ground.
Then it happened; my house and my life got invaded by Covid-19.
My mother-in-law, who lives with my wife Jeannie and me, casually suggested we all get tested again for the virus. At first, I was like “Ok, Mom Colohan, whatever you want.” So we took her and got tested, even though I was really preoccupied with my job launching the newspaper.
The following Saturday, all three of us began to get symptoms that we were ill. I lost my sense of taste and could not eat even though my wife Jeannie cooked what looked like a great dinner. On Monday, when we received the test results, we already knew the score: we had Covid. So, on the day my beloved newspaper was to launch, I was in bed wracked with a fever and a terrible, terrible headache.
When people talk about “Covid dreams,” they are talking about something real. While I tossed and turned in bed ,barely able to sleep, every time I did sleep, I had bizarre and just outlandish dreams that would cause me to wake again. It became a cycle: have chills, then sweat like crazy and fall asleep only to be wakened by insane dreams.
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But I still had work to do!
Thankfully, my body started to rally, and I could start taking care of my wife and Mom Colohan who were suffering badly. Mom Colohan is 84 years old, and when her fever reached 104 degrees, we pulled the rip cord and took her to the hospital where she is currently.
Mom Colohan is stabilized and is under the wonderful care of the folks at University Hospital. Despite the fact that they are in crisis mode in dealing with the pandemic, they remain the stoic yet compassionate professionals that they have always been. I really can’t thank them enough.
As for me, I have an auto immune disease, and the medication I take that suppresses my immune system actually helped me in battling Covid. As my doctor put it, the medication does not cut down the tree (my immune system), it simply prunes it or pares it down. My body fought the Covid, and while it felt like hell for a couple of days, I feel much, much better.
The point of me writing this is not only to document this struggle my family is in the midst of, because I am a journalist, and that is what we do, but also because I want to urge you strongly to get the vaccination for this virus.
My family and I took all of the precautions, and we were still invaded by this virus. I don’t know how we caught it. It could have been me making a cash transaction at the convenience store for all I know. No matter, I am here to tell you that you do not want to suffer the effects of this virus.
Please go and get yourself and family vaccinated. I know the process to get it done is arduous, but get it done. Trust me, you do not want to battle this virus!
I like for my stories to end on a positive note whenever possible. Yes, my family got hit with this virus that is raging across the world, and we found ourselves in crisis mode; but I also learned how strong and loving my extended family is in a time of need. My little brother Chris Hudson dropped off care packages of soups and Poweraid while my family at The Augusta Press went into overdrive taking up the slack on our launch week so I could rest and recover.
A fellow could not ask for more.
Scott Hudson is the Managing Editor of The Augusta Press. Reach him at scott@theaugustapress.com
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