People of Rochester - Frank and Georgina

I met Frank and his daughter, Georgina, at the Merriman Street Playground, in the Neighborhood of the Arts. They were relaxing on a bench, and Georgina was enjoying a piece of cake from a takeout box on her lap.

Frank is originally from South Africa, and he had lived and worked in three other states (Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Connecticut) before moving to Rochester in 2016. He’s an engineering manager who works at the Ginna Nuclear Power Plant.

Frank’s married and has another, six-month old daughter besides Georgina. He said there’s nothing as precious as looking at his children’s faces. He said the new baby always smiles, and Georgina loves being outdoors. “As soon as you sit down inside the house,” he said, “she pulls your hand and says let’s go outside.”

When I asked him how his life has been affected by the pandemic, Frank said his workplace took the pandemic seriously right away, and adopted all of the precautions that the CDC had put in place. Managers still went in to work, but individual contributors were offered the option to work at home.

He seemed to be tolerant and unruffled about the constraints imposed by the pandemic. “Last year you didn't get a chance to see a lot of people. Someone else may look at that as a bad thing, but because of the decisions made then, and getting vaccinated now, you get a chance to see everyone, and they’re actually healthy.”

Frank has had both COVID-19 vaccinations; he’s fully vaccinated. He experienced no side effects from either shot. One of his co-workers advised drinking a lot of water after each shot, to minimize side effects, and Frank has done this. He said, “My hope is that people get vaccinated.”

When I asked Frank how he feels about the division in the country around the pandemic and those who feel that the number of deaths caused by covid has been greatly exaggerated, he said, “A single person dying from a pandemic is a big deal.”

Thank you, Frank!