Editor’s note: This is the fourth story following eight local travelers who were quarantined when passengers on their cruise ship fell ill with coronavirus. We will continue to follow this story in the days ahead.
Dave Lewis’s daily journal, written while quarantined Friday at a military base 3,000 miles away, is full of uncertainty.
That’s been the trend for months now, since the coronavirus began spreading around the world. He and his wife, Judy, live in Concord, or at least they used to. They’ve been quarantined for three weeks, along with close friends Charlie and Rose Currier of Pembroke.
Charlie got sick this week, illness unknown, and that derailed any chance of getting home, if there even was one at the time. Meanwhile, two other area couples – Frank and Deb Keane, Bill and Marcia Krueger – are home, their nightmare over.
Not for the other four, though. They’ve been isolated at the Marine base out west since March 12.
“Another day crossed off the calendar,” Dave Lewis began in his journal, posted on an email and sent to the Monitor. “Five more days? Maybe, but our departure date is still uncertain. What happens if our test results are positive? Will we be quarantined with Rose and Charlie? For how many days?
“If the tests are negative, do we leave on March 25?” the journal continued. “If so, what about the Curriers? No soldier left behind.”
That last Marine-like line reflects the bond between these two couples. Along with the other two couples and one or two more, this is the core of a lifelong friendship. They do things together. Like taking a two-week cruise to Hawaii on the Grand Princess, near the end of winter.
“We’ve had Friday night parties the first Friday every month for 18 years,” said Frank Keane, who’s home in Allenstown, under quarantine for another 11 days. “It’s a core that will last forever. Rose and Judy are like sisters.”
They’re all experienced travelers, always well prepared. They didn’t see this one coming, though. Since last month, passengers from the Grand Princess have been quarantined on the ship, filled every seat for a bus ride, grouped together to fill out paperwork, waited on a tarmac for hours, then quarantined again at those bases.
Somehow, Dave, Judy, Charlie and Rose were sent to San Diego, while the other four went to Marietta, Ga., giving credit to our congressional delegation, although it has not been confirmed that lawmakers had anything to do with half this crowd getting home.
It’s also not clear why people who lived in New Hampshire were flown to California, or if they would have even been included on the flight that brought the others home. Charlie’s yet-to-be-diagnosed illness certainly might have made an impact on that.
Meanwhile, those who are home are balancing sheer joy and a newfound appreciation for, well, appreciating, with the awful knowledge that their friends still aren’t home.
“I like having my own coffee and making my own food and making martinis,” Deb Keane said. “We’re very lucky, and yes, our friends are still out there and we worry about them, and now they’re separated (from Dave and Judy). I spoke to Rose today and she is feeling okay, and Charlie yelled in the background that he’s doing great.”
It’s the waiting game now. For those tests, taken earlier this week. For a date to fly home. For something more personal than reaching out with a journal, from the other side of the country, in a small room, served food that’s sometimes cold.
“Charlie is making continued progress,” Dave Lewis wrote. “No test results for Rose. No test result for us.”