So today is the one-year anniversary of our lockdown in Michigan. My husband was laid off from his job for two months. I was still able to work, as I work from home and in publishing, and publishing keeps going on, which is a good thing. I had a unique perspective on this entire thing because there was literally no break for me. I’ve worked this entire time, and there was no worry about when I’m going back, what would happen when I did, if my co-workers would be sick, if there’d be new protocols in place, etc. That stress did not happen for me, thankfully. It did happen for hubby, and it was pretty rough. Everything was rough. Him being home, while nice, was a bit different and required some adjustment to my routine. Having to do the unemployment thing — he couldn’t even register for weeks and weeks because too many people were filing in Michigan. Did your state have this issue, too? Once he did, he had to do the online certification thing, which was new to him. Thankfully, I knew how, being that I’d been laid off just three years prior. So I was able to guide him.
And of course there were the changes to life in general. No more going out to eat. No takeout either in those early days. He couldn’t fish, which was one of his favorite things to do. It was too dangerous to be out there. We got all of our groceries delivered (and still do, to this day). Everything that came into the house got sanitized. Hubby himself had to wash his hands thoroughly upon entering the house and take his shoes off and clean them. We also sanitized the doorknobs as well. Were we being too obsessive? Too scared? Maybe. But we stayed healthy the entire time. Not one of us got sick, and not one of us got COVID.
My sister, who is a pharmacist working in a hospital, lives next door to us. On weeks she’s not working, she practically lives with us. In those early days, she didn’t come over and we social distanced if we wanted to physically talk or be around each other. We wore masks. We did not get together like we did before. It was horrible because she lives alone, and as a result, spent most of her time alone with just her dogs — time she would have spent with us, her family. But there wasn’t much we could do about that. We had to be careful. Until things improved, we had to keep our distance. But it was heartbreaking. Same with our in-laws. We had to keep our distance from them as well — being that they are elderly and have health issues, if we’d inadvertently gave one of them, or both of them the virus and something happened, we’d never, ever forgive ourselves. We decided the sacrifice was worth it so they’d live. Then once this was over — or safer, at least — we could see each other again. We’d all be alive to do it.
My birthday came four days after the lockdown. It was weird because we usually have my sister over and the in-laws. Last year it was just the three of us who live in the house — my mom, my hubby, and me. Very different. Smaller. It felt like the walls had contracted, and my world was too small. Mom made me a homemade cake, as we weren’t going to go to a store to buy one, and it was absolutely delicious. It’s been years since anyone’s done that, and I really appreciated it. The frosting was blue! Awesome! The cake was chocolate, my favorite! I opened gifts. We did a FaceTime thing with my sister and I opened my gifts from her. It was almost like having her with us. With the in-laws, we had a mini-celebration in the summer, when things were better. Socially distanced, of course. 😉 It was worth the wait.
Things haven’t changed much in my world since. Hubby is back to work. I’m still working. I don’t go anywhere except a few places I have to go to. Groceries, as I said, we have delivered. We do see my sister now. Vaccines are coming and we’re going to get them as soon as we can. We’re holding hope that we can beat this thing, or at least contain it so maybe things can return to normal — or semi-normal. I’d take that even.
My birthday is this Saturday. My cake will be store bought. My sister will be with us. My in-laws won’t be, because we’re still trying to keep them safe. I’ll miss them terribly, but the sacrifice is worth it. I want them alive, even if these memories won’t happen. I suspect a lot of memories aren’t happening, and that’s what COVID has done — it has stolen memories from so many. But maybe someday, down the road, the sun will shine again, and we all can make new ones.
Here’s to hoping.