I woke up this morning at around 4am and was unable to fall back to sleep.

 
There was really no reason for this except perhaps in these days of self-isolation I am getting a little bit too much rest and too little exercise. Or it could be incipient stress dealing with the fact that we are in a worldwide pandemic where the leaders of Brazil and of the USA seem incompetent and that a small but vocal part of the population don’t believe in science.

(Note to self:One should not look at Facebook when one wakes up in the middle of the night.) Maybe it was that I was missing our home in the United States a little too much after having a Facetime chat with Rosie yesterday. (She seemed less than enthused about the technological marvel that allowed us to speak.)

 
As often happens with middle of the night thoughts ricochet. They bounce off of each other. The fact that I was in Brazil and able to see and talk to my dog in real time made me think of my Aunt Sidi who arrived in Brazil nearly 100 years ago leaving her 12 brothers and sisters, including my Grandmother Jeni behind. When she left Hungary, she must have realized that it was highly unlikely that she would ever see her family again. That the only communication she would have with them for the rest of her life would be with letters that would take weeks if not months to reach her.

 
Thinking about that, especially in the light of my current situation where I am 4000 miles away from my family and friends in the United States with no practical way of making it home any time soon, made me realize how fortunate I am for the technology we have today. Yesterday, for example, I texted with my sister, my dog’s cares giver and my nephew. I blogged about my reading addiction. I IM’d with brother in law, my niece, and several friends. I emailed my landlord, sister and several friends. I had arguments, laughs and a few quips with folks on Facebook. I Skyped with my personal trainer so she could get my growing ass moving. I paid a few bills and managed to send to my family some treats so that their time in quartering in place would have a bit of serendipity. (Not the restaurant although I love their frozen hot chocolate.)

 
How lucky am I to be so far removed from many of those whom I love and care for yet able to communicate with them in real-time. It makes me feel far less isolated and homesick.

 
All of which brought me back to Sidi and Jenni. It made me realize, once again, the courage it took in those days to emigrate to a new country. It made me wonder if I could only communicate by letter or the occasional phone call what life would be like for me now. Waiting for weeks or months for a letter to come and then having to disinfect before I could even read a word. How lonely would I be?

 
But back then I would have never met Elaine. I would never had been able to court her. We could not have conducted a trans continental romance let alone marriage.

 
Thank god for modern times. Even with its pitfalls.