Hello Monday

 

Hello Monday is brought to you today by Shelly at the Queen in Between who snagged this idea from the Laura Tremaine podcast - Ten Questions to Mark One Year of the Pandemic - and all that is via Tanya at The Other Side of the Road's Friday Favorites post.  Whew, I think I've given the proper credit to everyone involved!

1.  What was life like in early 2020?

Pretty standard.  Work, eat, sleep, repeat.  There was a change at work when my boss and our Chief Engineer retired at the end of January and their replacements joined our office suite.  Vic returned to Okinawa after Christmas, Sophia returned to her studies and assorted part-time jobs after being home at Christmas and she came for a long weekend for my birthday in mid-February.

The last time we would have a family photo for quite some time - December 2019

2.  What was the biggest change?

On Thursday, March 12, 2020, the HP (Health Protection) Level at our command (we fall under the Department of the Navy) was raised from Alpha (the lowest) to Bravo.  On Friday, March 13, 2020 (can you see the irony in that?), all schools in our county closed, initially until April 24.  On St. Patrick's Day 2020 all employees aged 60+ were sent home on administrative leave (for two weeks), the following day, all with documented high risk health conditions went home on administrative leave.  We would not see most of them for three months.  Being in the first category (just!), I should have gone home but I had to much work to do to get everyone prepped for teleworking - agreements to process, property passes to issues (you need a property pass to take laptops from the workplace), my laptop to set up, and other miscellaneous things that need to be done.  My last day in the office was Friday, March 20.

3.  What were your coping mechanisms?

I'd pretty much been on my own before the pandemic in the evenings and weekends.  I enjoy my own company, keep busy around the house and with various crafts.  We hadn't found a church home yet since Vic was gone and I was at work full-time so it's not like I had an active social life.  Things weren't going to be very different, I was going to manage.

4.  What did connection in your relationships look like?

The biggest change was going from being alone in the evenings and on the weekends to being alone all the time.  I really missed my co-workers and looked forward to the twice a week conference call.  It was nice to hear that they all seemed happy to hear my voice, as I certainly was happy to hear theirs.  Communication with Vic and Sophia was via FaceTime and I still looked forward to the summer when Vic would be home and Sophia would come down to visit.

5.  What will you remember most?

That I bought a car via e-mail!  We had given our SUV to Sophia for Christmas - she did her student teaching in December, half an hour away from her house, and we wanted her to have a reliable car for the distance she would be driving back and forth and in case of any winter weather.  So she took my car home at Thanksgiving.  On Christmas Day, we put the keys and a photo with a note in a little bag under the tree "Betty Blue (the SUV) is looking forward to her new home with Sophia" and I inherited her old car, the Hyundai Accent we'd had for umpteen years.  After three months of driving it, I knew I would be heading for back surgery if I had to climb in and out of that Flintstone car for much longer, it was SO low to the ground.  Car dealerships were closed but I received an e-mail saying that our local Subaru dealership was offering appointments to mission essential personnel and not only that, but 0% financing.  I called, picked out my new SUV from their inventory, went in briefly to sign the papers, and drove home in my new car.

Milady, the Grey Lady (yes, we name our cars!)

6.  What was the biggest challenge?

It was tough to find out that Vic would not be able to come home in July as we planned.  When he took this overseas assignment, it didn't sound that bad because he'd be home every six months.  For a family that started out in the surface Navy, that's just a regular deployment.  So, four deployments back to back with a break in between each one.  He left in July 2019, came home for Christmas, and we'd planned for him to repeat that in 2020.  A visit in July was off the table and Christmas 2020 ended up cancelled as well.  Here we are in March and he only has a few months left overseas.  When he comes home, we will not have seen him for eighteen months.

7.  What was a beautiful memory?

Sophia completed her Masters Degree, got a full-time teaching job offer for the fall, and bought a horse! 

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Sophia and Ginger, first day of school (her small private school resumed in-class instruction in the fall while many of the public schools were still virtual)

8.    What do you believe now that we didn't one year ago?

That we would ever consider going into a bank to make a withdrawal wearing a mask!  That's a meme but it's true, who ever would have thought such a thing would be acceptable?  It also boggles my mind that people were hoarding toilet paper to such an extent that stores put limits on the amount you could buy.  I can understand paper towels, hand sanitizing wipes, and cleaning products, since we all wanted to keep everything sanitized, but toilet paper?  It's COVID, not cholera.

For those who really stocked up, you had 2020's Christmas presents in the bag!

9.  What would you do differently?

Nothing.  I did what we were asked to do - wear a mask, social distance, avoid gatherings (no problem there, I went from none to....none), clean frequently touched surfaces often.  I ordered groceries online and had them put into my car, limiting interactions at the grocery store and ordered takeout to support local businesses.  I can't really think of anything I could have done or should do differently.

10.  What will you carry forward?

Gratitude.  I'm grateful for the technology that allowed people to stay connected - teleworking, Zoom calls, online grocery ordering, and of course, Amazon.com.  I'm grateful for medical personnel who went over and above anything they could have imagined.  Heading to a third world country to help with an epidemic is one thing, but to have a pandemic in your own backyard, unprecedented.  They are truly heroes.