I'm not sure at what point our official lockdown started in 2020 but I know for certain this time last March things were definitely eerie and unfamiliar. By the end of the month, new words and phrases were added to our every day vernacular like: shelter in place, stay at home orders, quarantine, coronavirus, pandemic, unprecedented, asymptomatic and super-spreader. We all learned how to pivot from mobile lifestyles to how creative can we be within our homes. We learned how to navigate a virtual world and for so many of us parents, we learned how resilient our children would be, but more on that later. When we were given the local mandate to begin sheltering in place for 14 days, (add that to your bingo card) I think so many of us naively thought, "Ok, I can do this for 2 weeks." Oh how silly all that was looking back now, huh?! Two weeks felt like a lifetime ago.
In our state, as in many, people were quickly labeled essential or non-essential and if you fell in the latter category, you were ordered to stay home except for groceries or "other necessary business." Doctors offices, dentists, banks, dine-in eating was stopped, salons closed so it's not like you had the chance to catch up on errands or appointments. I believe auto repair shops were still open because they were deemed necessary but dealerships may have been closed. Our plumber came over to rescue us because we had a leak in the kitchen - thankful he was labeled ESSENTIAL! Churches, schools, many daycares - doors closed to the public. Office buildings that were once filled to the brim with employees? Most of them were ghost towns as employees were sent home to work virtually. Many friends of mine are still working from home to this day and some employers have decided that working from home works for their business after all.
For the first two weeks of quarantine, I didn't leave the house except to go up to the church office to gather a few things I needed to work on and maybe one trip to the grocery store. I mostly let Mike handle that because I'm a bit of germ freak anyway, but add an unknown virus with no cure? That's a hard pass for me. For the first month, I only went to church on Sunday mornings as I was on staff and we had FB live services and virtual Sunday School for the preschoolers. I sat with my mask on and we all stayed way far away from each other which is super weird for Baptists like us. I eventually branched out to sitting in my parents' and sister's driveways so we could safely visit with them and my grandparents, and I made a couple of short trips to the store but admittedly it took me a while to feel comfortable with being around people and any potential of getting sick.
In the beginning, I worried about my entire family because the unknowns were too much for my brain to process and my anxiety really got the best of me most days. That's one thing about the devil, he knows how to wear you down, especially when you're already worn out. No one ever said he fights fair.
As we began to see a slowing in the first wave and the data showed that hospitalizations and the mortality rate wasn't as significant, Mike and I felt a little more confident to slowly start emerging from our bubble a little more at a time with plenty of precautions in place. He had to travel for work and if not for PPE - personal protective equipment (yet another new phrase in 2020!), I might have just been a constant stress bubble as he works in assisted living facilities which for a big portion of the year were hot spots for the virus, especially amongst staff members, the same people he was working in and around and on their equipment. I shudder at the thought but I praise God for protecting him.
We took the kids up to Broken Bow and invited Granny (Mike's mom) to join us the first week of July. After so much time working from home, Mike and I really needed a change of scenery and the kids needed new territory to explore. We were able to keep appropriate precautions in place, masked up in public, hands sanitized and stayed back away from people when we were out of the cabin. I had my doubts that we could make it work, but by the time we got there, I realized that it was totally doable, no regrets and Mike and I even made a second trip up there back in January because again, there's only so much being at home that one person, let alone two people can take. It's a lot!
We started attending church again regularly in August and September, but by October, there was another wave in our county and people very close to us were hit hard with the virus, so we felt it was best to go back to virtual church and stick closer to home. It's definitely not the same worship experience but we also know that God is everywhere all the time. We love our church family and have been so thankful to connect in other ways virtually but we really look forward to returning, hopefully soon!
In November, Henry was sent home from school by the district on a two week quarantine after a classmate in his "pod" tested positive for the virus. Initially I was a mess but the principal reassured me that so far no one at the school that had been sent home under the precautionary measures had subsequently tested positive. From there I just tried to keep the faith in the social distancing and mask protocols already in place and pray for the margin. Thankfully after what felt like 2 months of watching and making sure he didn't get sick, the 14 days were up and Henry was able to return to school. Phew! Exhale.
And I know some of you are probably thinking "Get a grip Lacey" or "Where is this faith of yours?" but Henry's lung functions were as low as 68% last summer due to asthma. I don't even want to think of what this awful virus could have done to my child in either the short or long term. God is bigger than all of my fears and that's why I've prayed and prayed and prayed to Him to protect our son.
Thanksgiving fell right in the middle of Henry's quarantine so he and I hung at home just to be on the safe side. Christmas activities were pretty much a wash as well. We had Mike's parents over Christmas Eve but his brother wasn't feeling too hot and although it turned out to be just allergies, he didn't want to risk getting anyone else sick so he and Janet didn't come over for our annual get together. It sucked to miss them and miss the traditions but safety was in the forefront. We spent time with my family Christmas Day but most of us were in masks and truth be told, the day just felt kinda weird. We were all together and safe, but I think in the back of everyone's mind was a cloud of "what if." I have no doubt that every family can relate so we aren't unique.
A couple of days after Christmas, Mike was eligible for his first vaccine as his employer was administering them for their residents and staff members. Aside from his arm being sore after the first shot, he had no side effects. I think he was pretty nervous to get the second one 4 weeks later as more people reportedly have side effects then, but other than being tired, which could have been from the business travel that week, Mike was spared any ill effects. Praise the Lord! I'm still waiting to qualify for a shot and have been advised not to do it outside of a hospital or doctor's office due to a history of anaphylaxis.
Hand sanitizer (or "hanitizer" as Ruby calls it) is finally back in stock on shelves and not just the knock off variety made at your local distillery. Not knocking the stuff that smelled like straight tequila as it killed germs when it needed it to, but smelling like a drunk at breakfast wasn't a great way to send our kids to school. ;) Toilet paper is still occasionally a luxury item around our city which is hilarious and maddening at the same time. I've learned how to get creative with cooking when I can't find all the ingredients that I need due to shortages at the grocery store. This past year has been extra in a lot of ways. Not opening this for discussion, but because I write for personal reflection and for our kids to read someday, there's a lot of controversy over getting vaccine. There's personal reasons from uncertainty of the efficacy and safety due to how quickly it was rolled out to theories of microchipping or particular brands of the vaccine causing autism or infertility (these have been labeled as theories because there is no scientific evidence at the time of this writing). Online, there's a litany of name calling and vitriol across party lines because some choose to vaccinate while others won't. There's no right or wrong answer in my eyes so I'm not stating my opinion here, you do what you need to do for your body, it literally may not be safe for you to take. You can protect with the vaccine or from it, talk to your doctor to decide what's right for you. Some unsolicited advice since you're here, I do think more kindness for others is always a good idea. That typically doesn't cost you anything more than a smile or a nice attitude. It's been disheartening to see a global pandemic turn into a mudslinging political mess when this could have been a chance to truly unite us a nation and as a people. The irony that we were all sent to our proverbial rooms and still found a way to fight with each other.... I don't know whether to laugh or cry.
No doubt this will be something that even our 5 year old daughter will remember. She's been mad at this "birus" for messing up her social life and for making people sick. She's now a pro at wearing a mask and she was already a great handwasher before so if nothing else, she's a little safer now.
I hope that each of you are healthy and well, not feeling lingering affects from this awful virus but unfortunately I do know several in my circle of favorite people who may struggle with this indefinitely. We will continue praying for you and cheering you on towards strength and good health. Hopefully the light is at the end of the tunnel and as more are vaccinated or as more people are getting sick with the virus and recovering, we will reach herd immunity and this virus will join the list of common nuisances like the flu, head colds and respiratory viruses so we can get back to living life with our friends and family, but hopefully even better than before.
