I had to look it up, but our presidential primary was on Tuesday, February 11, 2020. I remember being bowled over when I saw a few people at the voting place with gloves on. I don't think there were masks then. I couldn't believe people were so concerned about a "flu". I didn't think much about it again until March 12. We had been told that an old friend of ours was in hospice. We hadn't seen her for years. We drove over to the place, and were met at the door by someone saying we could not come in. She told us "our president" gave a speech last night that said nursing homes shouldn't let anyone in. Having not heard the speech, we were surprised. She said she would let us know when we could visit our friend, but that call never came. She died on the 29th.
The next day, Friday the 13th, I had a haircut appointment. The woman and I talked about how exciting it was that the local high school boys were in the state playoff that night. By late afternoon it was announced that the game was cancelled. That's when I knew something much more serious was going on. All the schools closed.
And thus began the year like no other.
I'm so sorry you weren't able visit your friend in hospice. It's been such a sad year for so many. I've been reading my journal entries from a year ago and it's been interesting to see how things began to unfold by mid-March. What an unbelievable year! In other news, my mom got her second shot today and Rod & I get our first shots tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteI get my first one next week. I haven't had a vaccination since polio back in the dark ages!
DeleteFor me, things started to feel really serious when my hometown cancelled the Horse Market - an annual festival that has a tradition of over 250 years.
ReplyDeleteOn March 17, I took the decision to work from home entirely, and since then have not been to my clients' offices more than maybe 5 times all visits to all clients combined.
When my girlfriends and I met for our monthly gathering at an Italian restaurant in a nearby town, we had no idea it was going to be last time for a long time. And when I cancelled my birthday party (planned for March 22), I was convinced it was merely postponed until the autumn.
Thank you for telling me your March experience. So very touching that we all were living with the same emotions and actions all those miles apart.
DeleteThis past year is forgettable. I want to forget it. So many unhappy things have happened. It doesn't seem like it is getting a whole lot better to me. I am hoping with everyone getting the vaccine things will simmer down and all will get back to the new normal.
ReplyDeleteI feel there is a lot of hope in the air. We've now been told we can get together with friends in a house with no masks if we've all been vaccinated. That to me is pure joy. Still not for a while, as I don't get my first one till next week,
DeleteHopefully things are limping back to normal here. Public officers have now got to come into work daily, private sector are still working in shifts from home and office, face masks, sanitizing, keeping the distance all in place but I somehow feel a degree of hope. It is not over definitely and I find it hard to get out of the house now. Or rather when I do get out, I want to come back as quickly as possible.
ReplyDeleteThank you for telling me how things are there. I have read about your last two sentences as being very common. We've been in for so long. It has been our safety, our comfort, and for many our entire lives.
DeleteI know more people who have had the vaccination than have had Covid now and that feels good - and we should get notices of our appointments by Easter apparently. Still pretty locked down here but the schools are back and the next stage will be meeting outside in sixes - this means my running group can run together a little more, which will be lovely as we're having trouble scheduling runs in just going in pairs. We'll only do fours, though. I wonder when we'll revert back to going into supermarkets in person all the time ...
ReplyDeleteDoes that last sentence mean you can't go to the grocery store?
DeleteMy appointment is a week from today. Tom has had his first shot. Do you have to have 2?
I love the idea of your running group!
We can go to the grocery store but we're only allowed to go out once a day for exercise, medical reasons or essential shopping, and we're trying not to. We get a weekly delivery from a standard supermarket but pop out 2-3 weekends a month just to the fresh part of the discount supermarket. Then I do a big shop at that discount supermarket once every 5-6 weeks for the stuff we can't get from the other one, as they don't do online. Feels like this limits our exposure nicely but it's a bit limiting!
DeleteMy running group is a "sedate" ladies' subgroup of the running club we all belong to, slower ladies who like to run together. Except we've only been allowed to run with one other person during this latest lockdown so we've got a bit splintered.
We haven't had any kinds of lockdowns like that. Even masks were just a recommendation for a while, and never used by some. Thank you for giving details. I read the Guardian to see what is happening over there, but I haven't quite understand the extent until your comment.
DeleteAnd how I love that "sedate" adjective!
Nan,
ReplyDeleteYour memories are so vivid before lockdown - mine are kind of a blur. I recall laving a lovely dinner in a fancy restaurant for my husbands birthday in February - the last time we dined indoors. I also recall the last day of in person school for the kiddos was 3/13/2020 as was the last day of in person yoga but, not too much else of significance about March 2020.
My husband is fully vaccinated now and I will be fully on 4/2. I look forward to mid-April birthdays of my granddaughters and 4th of July weekend birthday for my other granddaughter as well as coffee with a vaccinate friend and outdoor book group by May. We hope to celebrate our anniversary in early May at a nice restaurant as well - we shall see as we will be proceeding with caution as well.
I have my first shot next Saturday, and Tom has his second on Sunday. I think we are all hopeful, but yes, "proceeding with caution".
DeleteThings so gradually changed that it all seems to have have all of a sudden. And then, we went from "normal" to "new normal," a term I detest.
ReplyDeleteI bought a new car on March 10 but didn't pick it up until the next day. On March 10, we barely talked about covid while we got all the paperwork done, etc. The next day when I went to actually pick up the car, everyone was more nervous and the topic came up several times. No masking yet, but the salesperson who demonstrated how all the electronics work in the car wanted to get it all done quickly - and with the windows rolled down.
Now, one year later, I've put exactly 4,508 miles on the car - less than one-third of the miles I usually drive in a "normal" year. At this rate, the car is going to last forever.
That is very interesting about the car. And "what a difference a day makes" is so true.
DeleteWhat a year it was ... I have been thinking about the one-year Anniversary too and thinking about doing a post , but I think yours pretty much says it all. (Although I probably still will do one, just not as well .). .....your header shot is so wonderful! Your “babies” are growing into big kids ... and still perfect.
ReplyDeleteEveryone's experience was both different and the same from others'. I never in my wildest dreams would have thought I'd be getting a vaccination one year and seven days later. Mind-blowing, really. So many unimaginable things. And it still goes on. I don't have a lot of faith that this thing will be over any time soon.
DeleteI agree with your assessment Nan. But still look forward to the modicum of security after immunity with our second dose. We will certainly still “mask up” but do feel like we will be able to sit and visit other vaccinated people indoors (!) and even to hug our great-grand babies .
DeleteThat's my biggest "looking forward to" is being with the whole family without masks, and visiting friends. But places are closing down again because of rising cases even next door in Vermont which has done really well during this virus time.
DeleteThis time of remembering a year ago has weighed heavy on my heart as my dear mother passed away in a nursing home in late February. Thankfully my two sisters were there at her side. A few weeks later they would not have been able to. I was not able to attend her life celebration service but most of my children did and found the lockdown happening on their way back home and the grocery stores emptied when they arrived. It all seems even more frightening now than I thought it was at the time.
ReplyDeleteOh, Dewena, I am so sorry. The grief, the sorrow is just too much. And yes, I feel the same way that it is more frightening now. I think all the politics and attacks that have happened over the last year have worn us down as much as the virus.
DeleteWhat a crazy time we've lived through right? I've read through some of my journal entries and looking back I can sense so much uncertainty and worry. I'm just hopeful that we are closer to some sense of normalcy. Some days I'm very positive and others well maybe not so much.
ReplyDeleteYour last sentence sums me up. I start feeling hopeful and then the cases rise in my town and the next town. I just feel so tired, and much older than I actually am.
DeleteI work in healthcare and could have a lot to say about the subject but it's too dangerous to express your opinion anymore.
ReplyDeleteIsn't it so sad. Thanks for coming by, though.
DeleteMy brother and I, neither of us particularly health-obsessed or panicky, started taking some precautions around Mar 11th - not eating out or visiting crowded places. Then, nearly two weeks later, our government noticed there was a problem. I can't help but wonder how many extra lives were lost because of that delay?
ReplyDeleteAwful. I read the Guardian pretty often to keep up with what's going on over there.
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