Giving Myself A Pat On The Back & Learning Lessons In Minimalism

I think I ought to give myself an overdue pat on the back for soldiering on feeding and caring for my foster strays for nearly three years. I know some people who love animals but wouldn't want to get a pet for they couldn't come to grips with losing them.  Well, I think I underwent a lifetime's worth of losing my beloved strays and for that, I'm giving myself a pat on the back. That I was able to do it for as long as I did (I intend to continue when fate intervenes and give me the resources and the health to do so), I thought I'm underselling myself -- getting up when I'm a bit too sick to do anything much just to cook, prep food, greet my fosters, feed them, and spend extra time with them.

Adopting Alvin, Being Made Redundant, Getting Long COVID & Trying To Find My Way Again

I know it's been like three months since I last wrote something in this sacred space.  A lot of things have happened.  Mysterious, crazy, mystical things. They say feeding, caring, and loving strays bestow good luck on the carer.  Hmmm, I think I have to collect my long overdue rewards then.  Like after rescuing and having Alvin treated for parvo and coronavirus (spending a month's worth of my pay), I, along with my team over at work got redundant.  I also lost some of my beloved fosters, including Buddy the dog whom I was caring for for the last two and a half years (this really broke my heart). Then, I had one health episode after another (long COVID, medicine side effects, withdrawal symptoms from a drug).  As I'm writing this, I am actually wondering why I'm still around.  

Just two short weeks ago, I was battling the wearying, life-draining effects of what I suspect to be long COVID - too weak to do anything much apart from sitting or lying down, so much muscle aches and pains all over, a deep metallic taste that will not allow me to eat solids for 2-3 weeks, hot flashes, difficulty breathing, difficulty sleeping, diarrhea, chills, fever like a virtual smorgasboard of symptoms you wouldn't wish on your worst enemy.  I think I lost 15-20 pounds in just a week. Earlier, Bioflu had the weirdest side effects on me (losing spatial sense and my balance to name just two).