COVID survivor publishes paperback of everyday humor


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COVID survivor publishes paperback of everyday humor


Photo by Jared M. Burns Photography


Carol Cross has turned a series of anecdotes into a little book of joy.

SNOHOMISH – Carol Cross has just published one book and finished another, which is a remarkable feat for someone who cannot read.
It’s not that Cross is illiterate. It’s just that letters swirl in her head as one of the “long-haul” effects of a severe battle with COVID-19 and fatigue sets in after just a few minutes.
For example, email from Seattle Children’s becomes email from Seattle Chicken – no matter how hard she tries to read the word.
“I think I want to write because I’m so frustrated that I can’t read properly or easily,” said Cross. “Anger makes me determined.”
Other lingering effects of her two-month-long COVID infection include debilitating muscle pain, anxiety, and a weakened heart.
Your medicine? The “Little Book of Covid Survival Through Laughter”, an 85-page paperback book that was self-published by Amazon in October.
“It’s kind of a love letter to the world,” said Cross. “There is joy here. It’s fun here. Let me bring some of this with me. I had to do this so that others could help myself. “
The humble volume tells short stories and amusing jokes about their four children: Ander, Emmy, Carol and Jordan. Each child has its own chapter.
The idea started with texts, emails, and tweets that Cross shared with friends and family to cheer her up in the fight against COVID.
Soon she had 12,000 word stories and her mother-in-law urged her to put them together in a book.
Which was easier said than done.
“I could write, I just couldn’t read what I wrote,” said Cross. “I would have sweated a lot after half an hour.”
Her friend Tiffany Burkey helped her proofread, organize, and maintain.
“She just took the time and did it gradually,” said Burkey. “My part was teaching her not to overdo it.”
At the same time, Cross was helping her children develop and write another book that started out as a school project.
It is a children’s story about a Komodo dragon who wants to learn to fly. You will soon be submitting this book to a publisher.
“I never intended to be a writer,” said Cross, who has worked in high tech for many years, “and I never intended to stay home.”
Her life changed in the spring of 2020 when her youngest son Ander got a burning rash on the back of his hand.
Soon Cross had “a little cough” that quickly broke out into a full-fledged COVID-19.
Although she never went to the hospital, she lost feeling in her arms and legs. One night she became paralyzed and could barely breathe.
“If I had to, I would get a weekly vaccination,” writes Cross in her book, “if that meant never experiencing the hell of Covid-19 again.”
It’s also difficult for Burkey to watch her friend’s struggles.
“With long-haul pilots, it’s almost as if (Covid) decides by chance where to attack next. It’s horrific, ”she said.
“I hope for each of these people out there who are really struggling (the book) brings some laughter and joy to their day.”
The “Little Book on Surviving Covid Through Laughter” is available on Amazon for $ 12. Cross hopes it will be available in bookshops soon.

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