vaneramos | Archive meme

1. Delve into your blog archive.
2. Find your 23rd post (or closest to).
3. Find the fifth sentence (or closest to).
4. Post the text of the sentence in your blog along with these instructions. Ponder it for meaning, subtext or
hidden agendas...
5. Tag five people to do the same.

I cheated and included the whole first paragraph, because it was interesting as an indicator of life at the time, both personally and societally. And of how vulnerable we are to losing things we take for granted. Canada has been unscathed by the recent string of disasters, but in spring 2003 it was a different story.

May 23, 2003

It's a sunny, chilly afternoon and I wanted to go for a walk, but I had to wait around for a delivery of medical supplies. It never came. This is another result of the SARS epidemic. Medical services everywhere in Ontario are eccentric and unreliable. Hopefully the stuff will come tomorrow while I'm waiting for my grocery delivery.

When I was in hospital a few weeks earlier, the SARS scare was at its worst. The day I was supposed to be released, all visitation was cancelled and I was afraid I wouldn't be allowed to go. Triage was moved outside the hospital to the front parking lot. Finally my surgeon paid a cursory visit and gave me the go-ahead. The friend who came to pick me up wasn't allowed to enter the building, so I had to go out to meet him. I was still in considerable pain from abdominal surgery a week earlier. My memory is a little foggy: a nurse may have helped me down to the front door.

I joined LiveJournal while convalescing at home.

I'm not going to tag anyone because many people would object, but if you're interested in doing this meme, consider yourself tagged.