Social Distancing does not have to be isolation for a genealogist

I am amazed at the amount of contact I have had with my family since this "social distancing" has come into importance. First, before going into how my family has thrived during the pandemic, I need to indicate that I am a person who falls squarely into almost every risk category. I am a person over 65 years old. I have had asthma, a chronic lung disease for a long time. I am immunocompromised at the moment, in the process of recovering from a serious operation. I miss some of the other criteria but the idea here is that I am in charge of my own care and disease prevention. I am not listening to anyone tell me whether or not I need to self-distance or whether is possible for me to go to the beach or a sports event. I am smart enough to make those decisions on my own. If someone else wants to ignore history and common good sense, that is their problem. I am not waiting for anyone, even the President of the United States to tell me there is no longer any danger. I can read the statistics and I can see that the number of people infected, compared to the number of people tested is still unacceptably high here in Utah and almost everywhere else in the U.S. If there are no reported cases of COVID-19, I can verify for my own satisfaction whether or not there have been any tests taken.

That said, I am also pretty much in charge of what I determine to do all day (except for the recent surgery) and I can choose to do genealogy and genealogically related activities along with other things that need to be done. I do not need someone reminding me of my duty or whatever. I have been consistently involved in genealogical research for almost 40 years and as long as I can sit up and work, I will keep researching. I am also scanning documents, sorting the scanned files, posting Memories to the FamilySearch.org website and many other important activities that I now have time to do.

What about my family? Well, granted they are almost as busy as ever but we do get together once a week from all over the United States for a video conference. I also end up talking to my children much more frequently than before the virus hit. For all this, we owe this opportunity to cell phones and the internet.

My point is that we are in charge of what happens to us. Quoting from Invictus by William Ernest Henley:
It matters not how strait the gate,
      How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate,
      I am the captain of my soul.

Lastly, I am in no way isolated. I have friends around me and I can talk to almost anyone I please. If you want a classical example of isolation watch this old movie.

The Mailbox

Let's hope that you don't put yourself in this condition. One thing other thing. My older grandchildren have started to read to some of the younger ones over Zoom. Who can you read to?