One year ago…
We first heard the term shelter-in-place.
We watched as countries around the world went into lockdown.
We started wearing masks and N95 and PPE became a part of our everyday language.
Our country went into lockdown.
We tried to flatten the curve.
We began social-distancing and staying 6 feet apart.
We realized the curve would not stay flat.
We realized 3 weeks of lockdown was turning into much more.
We started working and schooling from home.
Some of us took on teaching as a second job without experience or training.
We started Zooming, Google Meeting and Webexing.
Everyone learned all about clinical trials.
We watched our hospitals and emergency rooms get overwhelmed with our friends and loved ones.
We mourned the loss of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd, names we will not forget.
We celebrated Harvey Weinstein’s conviction in court.
We saw the stock market crash.
We were shocked at the passing of Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna.
We watched in horror as Australia burned and locust swarms covered East Africa.
We stared at empty shelves where once there was an abundance of toilet paper.
We stood six feet apart to enter our favorite stores.
We reconnected with old friends over video chats.
We were deeply saddened at not being able to see our parents and grandparents in person.
We stopped going to our favorite restaurants, movie theaters, malls and wineries.
We started going to drive-by celebratory parades.
Big lawn signs became a popular home décor.
Our dogs started loving us a little more but soon grew tired of going on walks.
Some of our cats wondered when we would go back to work (not my cat, of course).
We streaming services became our best friends and we connected over Tiger King or Ozark or Unorthodox.
Joggers and leggings and yoga pants became the hottest fashion trends, along with face masks.
An 89-year-old women started making masks at home. [Grandma]
Residents of a nursing home recreated album covers. [Nursing Home]
We rediscovered the joy of jigsaw puzzles, knitting, sewing, cooking, baking, and being together.
We got back into nature and the great outdoors.
We started traveling to other countries, famous museums and national parks, virtually.
We were all forced to find our own bubbles of security.
We realized not all of us are in the same boat but we are all in the same storm.
We started adjusting our lives to a new way of living with resilience and learning to dance in the storm.
One year later…
We realize essential workers are also our local grocery store workers, gas station attendants, and janitorial staff.
We are talking about our mental health more openly because just about everyone is hitting a pandemic wall.
We have learned to stay connected despite travel advisories, curfews and physical distancing.
We have a treatment and a vaccine for the novel coronavirus.
We can look forward with hope to a new normal .