Dear Joanie,
Let’s start with the good news first. Luca Kai Kaiser was born on February 7, 2022. Luca’s parents are Andre Kaiser and Eileen Teller. Andre Kaiser is my son, and the half-brother of your grandmother Coco and your Great Aunt Julie. He is your mother’s uncle. Here they are, when he is only a few hours old.
So here’s something funny. Your are my great-granddaughter, as you know; Luca is my grandson. What’s funny about that? You are almost two years older than Luca! That’s because your grandmother Coco was 20 years old when your Uncle Andre was born. Luca is doing well. I hope you’ll be able to meet him soon. You can teach him a lot of things.
As for COVID: Dougie continues to get better. He’s doing physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy because sometimes he has trouble finding the right word. But we are very concerned with some news we got just a couple of weeks ago. The latest research shows that people for people with leukemia, especially, but all people with compromised immune systems, the vaccines are “unresponsive.” That’s the medical term. The reason Dougie got so sick was that, even though he had had two shots and a booster (all Pfizer), they were ineffective. There is a new drug, Evusheld, that has been released on an emergency basis for people like Dougie. Last week he had two injections of this COVID antigen. Then, this week we got a call that said he would need to more injections, and he will get those this coming Friday. Someone, somewhere has determined that the extra shots are needed to bring the antigen to full strength.
What does this mean for Dougie? Mainly, he feels really vulnerable and also uncertain about whether he is protected. Right now, COVD cases are decreasing fairly rapidly, and mask mandates have been lifted across the country, including Boulder County. So most people are going without masks, after having worn them for over two years. But masks are still required in hospitals and medical offices and several stores have signs in their windows that say, “Masks encouraged.” We wear masks in stores, and, actually, Doug stays away from the “big box” stores, such as Target and Whole Foods. We will see if we remain COVID free.
I’m to go to Mexico next week for a yoga and dance retreat. Mexico has no requirement relating to COVID, but I must test negative to re-enter the US. But people like me, who have had COVID, can test positive for three months after recovering, so I need to take “fit to travel” documents with me so that I can get back into this country. That worries me. We’ll see.
As I’ve said before, one of our greatest pleasures is looking at the the pictures your mom and dad post. What we have seen lately shows us that you are now a little girl. You continue to march and run through life in Central Park and also with a group of your friends. My favorite recent video is of your sitting on the floor at Coco’s reading a book, happily flipping through the pages. We’ve watched that video about five times already.
One last thing. I mentioned the Marshall Fire to you a couple of letters ago. I’m not certain that I’ve told you that Shelby Poodle and I are a therapy animal team. Shelby has begun visiting middle school students who were affected by that fire. She meets with groups of five to seven students, and they pet her, talk to her, and give her treats. We were invited by the school counselor after her research showed that spending only about five minutes with a dog can be very calming.
I’m writing to you at the end of a cold and snowy day in March. We are ready for some sunshine and warmth!
Love,
GG Katie
