Hello everyone! It’s been awhile since I’ve posted. I wish I could say it was due to some big life events but admittedly, it’s out of pure laziness. I’ve been on some adventures in the interim that would have made some great posts but alas, I fear those memories will just have to live on through photographs instead. The reason for my return though may be less exciting. I always meant to document how things unfolded as our lives were quickly taken over by the Covid 19 pandemic in March of 2020 just for my own posterity. I want to look back on it in the decades to come and remember the details of how bizarre of a time it was. As my laziness would have it, I didn’t use the months of sitting at home and doing nothing at the time to dive into this. I was too busy binge watching tv shows, doing home improvements, and working from home like everyone else! The one year anniversary came and went and still no motivation. Here we are at 5 years now (can you believe it?!?) so I guess now is better than never! Here goes...
I work at a travel agency so we had started to hear some rumblings of something called the Coronavirus in late December of 2019 and how it might affect travel, particularly in Asia. Nothing was all that serious at the time and I very distinctly remember having to talk some clients off the ledge because of course their trip to the Caribbean in May would certainly not be affected by this. I had my first trip cancellation around mid-February for someone planning to travel in just a couple of weeks’ time. With her too, I just remember thinking there was no reason to worry. There were only a handful of confirmed cases in the whole of the United States at this time and it just didn’t seem like it was a big deal at all. On March 10, 2020, I attended a performance of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory where there were quite a few empty seats in what would ordinarily be a sold out auditorium of 2,500 people. I wasn’t going to miss out on live theater because, by this time, 3 cases were confirmed in the state of Michigan on the opposite side of the state. I had a life to get on with, and a plane to catch in the morning…
Wednesday, March 11, 2020 was Kevin’s 30th birthday (it was also my mom’s 66th birthday which I’m sure she would be glad for you all to know) and the plan all along was for me to fly out to San Francisco, where he was living at the time, on his actual birthday since 30 is kind of a big deal and then stay through the weekend where we would be having a combined birthday party for him and a few of his law school friends with March birthdays. I got on the plane and couldn’t believe my luck. I had the whole row to myself! Not just my row but a few rows to the front, back, and across the aisle from me as well. I was connecting through Detroit and made a joke on my Instagram story about flying toward the confirmed cases in Michigan. My connecting flight was just as empty and I got in a great nap sprawled across the three seats. Now, I don’t want you to think I was being completely careless. At a coworker’s suggestion, I did take along some Clorox wipes and wiped down my seat before said nap.
It seems like March 11, 2020 was the day everything started to go to shit. You often find mask wearers in San Francisco but there were definitely more than normal. I didn’t own a mask or even know where to get one. My mom called and told me to stay safe because there were talks of cancelling the NCAA basketball tournament so this “thing” was getting serious. I kind of laughed it off and ordered a Corona beer from the bar so I could make a funny joke. Kevin had heard these rumors too and said they’d be crazy to cancel the tournament with how much money it brings in. There was no way that would ever happen. Yeah…later that night it happened. We were in shock. Things only escalated from there. I had one eye on the news playing on the tv at the bar where Kevin’s dart team was having their weekly match. The big story was that the US was closing their borders and any US citizen that was currently abroad had only a couple of days to get back home or they wouldn’t be let back in. Kevin got a call from his mom asking if he would please try to convince his brother and sister-in-law who were currently in Ireland on their honeymoon that they needed to get home ASAP. I think we were all still in denial and didn't believe that this was all happening and happening so quickly.
We kind of went about the next few days as normal but more and more things were getting cancelled and new precautions were being recommended each day. So naturally, we went to a house party on Saturday, March 14. Yes, there were tons of people, many of whom I didn’t know. Yes, a friend had literally cut his trip short and just arrived home from Asia (remember, the borders closed) and attended this party with us. Yes, there was drink sharing and bowls of food without serving utensils. And yes, in hindsight this was very stupid. Should we have known better? Maybe a little bit but remember, we still didn’t think it was really that big of a deal.
I flew home on the red eye flight and arrived home on Monday morning. We are now on Monday, March 16, 2020 for those keeping track. I took a nap and when I woke up that afternoon, everything changed again. My boss called and said he didn’t think it would be a great idea for me to come into the office for a few days since I had been traveling. I could come in after office hours and get my laptop and anything else I might need to work from home for a few days. Little did I know that I would never work in that office building again because of course, days turned into weeks, and weeks turned into months and in the meantime, we terminated our lease with that building. I would never have imagined that day when I went to pick up my laptop that I would never go back to work in that building again.
Kevin called me that afternoon because the mayor of San Francisco was telling the city to “Shelter In Place”. This was a foreign term that we would be hearing quite a lot in the coming weeks. Basically, it meant that everyone was to stay inside. No one was to go to work unless they were considered an “Essential Worker”. Kevin was legitimately concerned that if he stayed, he wouldn’t be able to leave his apartment and he would be all alone for literally who knows how long. We agreed that he should probably leave and come to Michigan. All of his classes had already been moved to online so there was no real reason to stay in the city. He was able to book an early morning flight from Oakland to Detroit on Tuesday for $32 which was unheard of! He was also worried about getting to the airport because this shelter in place order was going into effect that evening so we weren’t sure if the trains would be running or Uber drivers would be operating after that time. So he packed up everything he thought he might need for a few months (the first time anyone actually started thinking about the long term) and got himself to the airport like 6 hours early. Meanwhile, our governor also issued a shelter in place order for the whole state so things were really starting to get serious.
While waiting for Kevin to get home, I made a Costco run to stock up on the essentials which included toilet paper. Who knew that toilet paper of all things would be one of the hardest items to find for months. I stocked up on all the snacks, and booze if we’re being honest, because we genuinely didn’t know how long we would be stuck inside. Yes, grocery stores would remain open but we were only supposed to go out if absolutely necessary. I also got set up to work from home for what was supposed to be just a few days. That turned into 6 months. Kevin got home and we settled into what would be our new normal for a long time.
Anytime we went out in public, which wasn’t often, we had to wear masks and stand 6 feet apart. Only essential businesses were open (think grocery stores, doctor’s offices, etc). Restaurants were not open for you to dine in but many set up ways to order carry out and eventually, when the weather got nicer, to sit outside. Naturally, my mom took up the hobby of making us masks to wear for every occasion. We got multiple Michigan State print masks and masks for every holiday. I’ve never owned so much hand sanitizer.
Working from home was an adventure. We were not well equipped for this at the start. I fared better than most given that I understand technology about 80% better than most of my coworkers but it was still difficult figuring out how to transfer my office to my home. You also have to remember the timing of when this all went down. Spring Break here in West Michigan typically falls during the first week of April each year and that is often our busiest time of the year in the travel agent world. When everything shut down, we were about 3 weeks out from Spring Break so the first 3 weeks were spent cancelling everyone’s reservations. This was super stressful as everyone was in a hurry to do so. It was hard to try to convince some people that if they waited and let the tour operator cancel on them, they’d have a better chance of getting money back. I like to think I did the best I could during this time but it was hard not being connected to my coworkers in the office and being completely on my own at home, feeling disconnected from the world. After the first week or so, our hours were severely reduced. I think I was down to 8 hours a week. Fortunately, in the State of Michigan, we were allowed to collect unemployment on top of this which helped, especially once the government also added an extra $600 per month to all those collecting! Then there were the stimulus checks. Once all the initial work of Spring Break cancellations died down, I’ll admit I had a pretty good gig set up. Let’s just say, I was getting paid well to do a whole lot of nothing. And we couldn’t go out and do anything so I wasn’t really spending money. Now I don’t want you to think I got rich or something. I was in a pretty rough place financially before Covid and honestly, it saved me from disaster if I’m being totally honest. But at the end of the day, like I said, it was a pretty good gig.
Our daily lives consisted of staying up late and sleeping in late. We watched the Sopranos all the way through. We turned ourselves into Sims characters. We had virtual game nights with friends over Zoom. We watched a lot of TV and played a lot of video games. Thankfully we didn’t have school aged children that we had to homeschool but that was a thing. While a lot of people took up making sourdough bread, I followed the less involved trend of making banana bread quite a bit. You couldn't go get a haircut which was more of a problem for men than for women. Some women took up learning to cut their boyfriend's hair. I don't think Kevin trusted me enough with his so he let his grow a bit. Then came the trend of home improvements. We were all stuck at home so why not tackle the task of fixing or renovating that thing you’ve been putting off? For me, it was the spare bedroom that I was now using as a home office and Kevin was using as a classroom. This trend became so popular that for a brief period of time, stores that were deemed essential but still carried DIY products had to block off that section of the store because it was encouraging too many people to be out and about. Needless to say, we did get a lot done around the house and in the yard when the weather got nice. Eventually restaurants were allowed to open and operate at half capacity so as to be able to spread people out. We tried our best to support local businesses when we could during this time. Places got creative during the warmer months to maximize seating opportunities outside.
Then you had the health side of things. We all took the necessary precautions of wearing masks and sanitizing all the time. Temperatures were taken when you walked into buildings. Some people were crazy in the early days and wiped down their groceries with wipes before bringing them inside. Dr. Fauci was a regular on TV. We saw reports of hospitals being overwhelmed and having to refuse patients. There was a shortage of ventilators. Doctors and nurses were overworked. And this was happening all over the world. And then you have people like President Trump making jokes about drinking bleach. It was a weird time. Meanwhile, experts were working tirelessly to make a vaccine. At first, vaccines were available to those 65 and older or those considered high risk for various reasons. Both of my parents got one right away. Eventually we were all eligible to get one. You had to register online for an appointment slot. The closest administration site to our house was a huge convention hall. They were able to administer hundreds of vaccines a day. It was truly a wild experience! We received vaccination cards that we had to carry around with us proving that we got 2 shots as many places were requiring vaccination records for entry. You couldn’t even fly without proof of vaccination.
Eventually things slowly started to go back to “normal”. Business are open normal hours again, vaccination cards are no longer necessary, we don’t wear masks regularly out in public anymore, and of course we are all back to a normal way of life in terms of work and school. The abrupt shift in our lives I would say lasted from mid-March 2020 through the end of that year. Vaccinations didn’t become mainstream until early-mid 2021 but by that point, many of us were already slowly returning to normal life. By summer of 2021 things were mostly back to normal with a few exceptions. In the summer of 2021, we were able to travel to Europe with our vaccination cards without a problem.
I don’t know that life will truly go back to the way it was. Covid taught us a lot about how to get creative when we can’t do things normally. Many of us learned that not only can we work from home if we have to, but that it can actually be kind of nice. In fact, I still work from home 2 days a week and have found the balance to be perfect. Of course there were many downsides to Covid as well. Many long term lasting effects are still being felt by school aged children who were forced into remote learning for half a year and for particular age groups, some fell far behind. Then of course there’s the obvious. It’s estimated that over 3 million people in the US died from Covid or Covid related illnesses in 2020 alone. Some people suffered from what is commonly referred to as “long covid” where symptoms lasted months.
I’m very fortunate. This strange period in our lives was actually really great for me. To my knowledge, I never actually had Covid. If I did, I was definitely asymptomatic. No one I know had it bad enough that they were hospitalized and I definitely didn’t personally know anyone who died from it. I realize many many others were not so lucky. I was in a long distance relationship at the time and Covid allowed us to be together for months at a time with nothing to do but enjoy each other’s company which we had been craving. I didn’t lose my job and I didn’t go broke. I actually got myself out of the hole and in a good place financially. Again, I realize not everyone can say the same. It was an unprecedented time and everything was just plain weird. There was a lot of bad stuff that happened during this time but there was a lot of good stuff too and I just really wanted to remember all of it. When my kids and grandkids ask me about this time I want to be able to tell them what it was like. 5 years seems like forever ago but at the same time it feels like it was yesterday…
