A Year of Pandemic

I’ve seen several blogger friends (Tanya/Shelly) do this post “10 Questions To Mark One Year of the Pandemic” from Laura Tremaine’s Podcast. I thought it was a really good idea to look back at the last year of going through a pandemic.

What was life like in early 2020?

Life was normal. We celebrated Drew’s birthday in Atlanta in January. Alex got his braces of in February. In March, Alex turned 16 and we did our annual Spring Training trip down to Florida.

Alex got his Driver’s License right after getting back.

I remember at some point early in the year, my boss said how we need to do this, this, and this in case the university shuts down and they send us all home. I thought to myself, “Ok, yeah! That will never happen. I don’t see how COVID will make it here.” However on March 17th, I started working from home! I just couldn’t believe it.

What was the biggest change?

Being at home. With the kids. All the time. Rob was actually still working in office by choice. Not going to church. Or soccer. Or scouts. Or anything! Not eating out. Not traveling. No concerts. No musicals. Cooking. all. the. time!

For the first couple of months, Drew and I still made pretty regular trips to the store for groceries or gardening materials. That helped us stay a little more sane. Here we are after I saw a info graphic about if someone were to cough or sneeze on the other side of the aisle. Coughs and sneezes can travel 6+ feet…even over an aisle at the grocery store!

What were your coping mechanisms?

Gardening was probably the best thing I ever decided to do way before knowing this Pandemic was going to happen. We had beautiful spring, which stretched way into when it’s usually blazing hot here. We got new deck furniture and made a little oasis on the back deck which was also good for our souls. We had also gotten Kayleigh right after the pandemic hit. Having her around, sure did help as well!

For nearly 2 months (March & April) until it started getting hot, we took a family hike every Sunday. This was good for us to get out of the house. To get Kayleigh (and us) some exercise. And it’s always fun to explore new trails.

What did connection in your relationships look like?

I feel pretty distant from most people still except my immediate family. We did go visit my in-laws and sit out on the porch. Even though our state is not locked down, people are choosing to be extremely cautious still.

I’ll remember Alex begging us to go over to a friend’s house. I mean he got his DL and a couple days later the world shut down. I remember Rob and I mulling over the decision to let him go play basketball with his friends.

What will you remember most?

I will probably remember working from home for over a year, just going into the office at first every 7th business day. Then when we had a few students come back, we switched to 1 week a month and it has stayed that way ever since. I will probably be returning to the office full time in May and boy, is that going to be ad adjustment!

What was the biggest challenge?

Alex went to online school, I think the same day I started working from home or soon after. Getting him and keeping him on a decent routine from March through July was rough. He did fine in school, but when summer started and he had already been home for 2 months, it was difficult. The boy (as most teenagers do) need routine. They need stuff to do. They need to get out of the house.

What was a beautiful memory?

This is not only a beautiful memory, but also something I’ll remember the most is Drew’s college graduation. I remember being so upset when AU ‘cancelled’ the commencement ceremonies just 2 weeks before the big event, but then ended up allowing grads to come to Jordan-Hare stadium to have the chance to ‘walk’. I was sad and disappointed that my Mom, Sister, and BIL couldn’t come. It was August and Alabama’s heat and humidity showed out for us unfortunately. We made the best of it getting tons of pictures. Drive by Party – Graduation Festivities – Family Grad Party

What did you believe now that you didn’t one year ago?

I’m not really sure there’s anything I believe differently. I think it has proven to me that we can get through weird and really hard world times. I say weird because of all the media hype. All the weird ideals people had. I still laugh at when you go to a restaurant you have to wear a mask until you’re seated and then can immediately take the mask off. I’d really love to compile a list of all the rules and things people did during this pandemic time.

What would you do differently?

I really wished I would have documented everything more thoroughly.

What will you carry forward?

Just like my Grandparents who lived through a World War and the Great Depression, we have lived through something major in history. This will be something that will be history books, for better or worse!

I will carry forward with much gratitude and thankfulness for Rob and my job. The school system that Alex goes to for being open for this 2020-2021 school year! For the health of my family and the fact that those of them that got COVID, didn’t have it that bad.

Feel free to share your thoughts on this last year!