Thank you for your compassionate concern about my mental health, Ivana! ❤️ Luckily, no, I don’t have a pathological hand-washing compulsion, but I feel for anyone who does. I was just careful to wash my hands after anything that could (reasonably) be expected to contaminate them with virus (which, frankly, is actually a lot of things…), and before doing anything that might transmit it to my loved ones. It’s not fun to wash your hands so often, but dry hands are a very small price to pay in order to avoid giving anyone a deadly disease. Within about a week, my mother was in the hospital fighting for her life. I was terrified that my aunt, uncle, grandmother, etc. might be next — but thanks to the fact that I put their wellbeing above my own sense of convenience, they were spared. To call that a huge relief would be an understatement!

Thank you so much for reading, and may you and your loved ones stay healthy.

P.S.: in grade school, I had a classmate who shared exactly your name!