Times are indeed tough for all of us these days, but because we are adaptable creatures, we rise to the occasion and carry on, bravely encouraging our children and grandchildren to do the same. There is no giving up.
But I do miss the hugs!
The drive to know possibly has something to do with my seven decades. It has, though, for a good long time, been a quite-intense-work-in-progress* — made so much easier with the accessibility of the internet. I remember stressing on my students — time and time again — that, with this tool, they had a wonderful free gift of knowledge right in front of them, and all they had to do was unwrap it. Be curious, read, research, dig, question, study, learn, cross-reference, reject, start again, …. I told them there was no excuse to be in the dark about anything. The responsibility to look for the answers, however, was theirs alone. Thankfully, my retirement has given me the opportunity to continue to fulfill my responsibility and be a life-long-learner.
No matter how independent we like to be, we all occasionally need to receive social services, including medical examinations and treatment.