Home, Pfizer, and Harry Styles

Hello friends!

I’m a firm believer in finding the positive in every situation. Tomorrow, I get my second dose of the Pfizer vaccine! I did have a reaction to the first one, but I got to spend the weekend in bed relaxing and rewatching my favorite movies. I got to visit the city of Baltimore for the first time in years, since I rarely go anymore. It’s a 40-minute drive, and the city is becoming more known for it’s crime and violence-ridden streets, that it makes my parents nervous.

Plus, I GOT VACCINATED.

However, the city of Baltimore is truly, truly beautiful. I feel so lucky to live so close to the colorful, diverse environment. I got my vaccine at Notre Dame of MD Univ., which isn’t exactly downtown, but it was easiest for my family and I to drive straight through the city and north to NDMU’s campus. Not that it matters, but Harry Styles rushing through my headphones as we entered downtown was truly the perfect fit. There’s a Harry song for everyone and every situation.

As we drove into the city, the childhood memories from field trips through school and Girl Scouts, and museum-hopping with my dad all started to come back. The last time I was here, my dad and I spent the day at the Peabody Conservatory at JHU where I got to look at and appreciate all sorts of classical music, and I even got to play a bunch of different pianos. As someone who’s played piano for over 10 years, I was in my glee.

After our shots- which were quick and easy to the point I didn’t know it had happened- we did the 15-minute wait, scheduled our second dose, and headed over to the Mount Washington Tavern (picture via Google) for some dinner.

The neighborhood of Mount Washington is one I used to visit yearly. I have mild cerebral palsy, and have been treated for 17 years at the peds hospital in that neighborhood. Lucky for me, I haven’t had the need to go back since I haven’t been having significant issues.

The tavern had a small outdoor seating area (I’m not sure if they’ve been doing it since COVID, or just in general when it gets warmer out), facing a beautiful neighborhood of houses, each with different colorful art. Seeing Black Lives Matter signs, Biden-Harris signs, pride flags, “Make Love, Not War,” and “Spread Love” displayed all over the city made me feel comfortable. I felt at home again.

Just like the signs say:

Black Lives Matter, Love is Love, Make Love, not War, and Spread Love.