COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic was nothing like we had ever experienced before. Early in 2020 there was news of a new virus spreading in China. There had been outbreaks like this before such as SARS, but there were talks of this one being more serious. In January the first case appeared in Washington State. Soon afterwards more cases appeared and we became the epicenter of the pandemic in the US. In March a national emergency was declared and many schools and businesses were closed down. Over the months the number of infections and deaths continued to climb. The recommendations were to wear masks, stay six feet apart and avoid large gatherings. Despite the dangers many people chose to ignore these recommendations which made things worse. Cases and deaths spiked in July and then spiked again significantly in December. Vaccines were starting to get approved by the end of the year, but it would take a long time to distribute them. By the end of February 2021 over 500,000 people in the US had died.

When I initially heard of the COVID-19 I knew it was bad, but never thought how bad things eventually would get. Early in March Rachel and Jamie had a school trip to Washington D.C. scheduled. There was come concern that it might be cancelled, but the school got the go ahead for the trip after speaking with the Archdiocese, Public Health and consulting CDC information. Yet, 24 hours into their trip, schools (including the kids' school) began closing. I started working from home. Still in D.C., the tour Rachel and Jamie were on was one of the very last groups to tour the city before everything closed down. The closures at home soon became permanent and Jamie had to throw together a plan to teach her students remotely. The schools remained remote in the fall. Other than a couple brief visits, I never returned to my office. In fact by the end of the year I started another job working completely remote.

Eventually a new normal had begun. We wore masks whenever out of the house. Most restaurants were open only for takeout. Professional sports were played in empty stadiums. Any events involving crowds such as conventions, concerts and movies in theaters were canceled or closed. Most of our shopping was done online and we subscribed to additional streaming services to watch shows at home.

Our family strictly followed the recommendations and had little to no physical contact with people during the time. Most visits were either done through Zoom or drive way stops. We stayed home most of the time with some notable exceptions including an abbreviated road trip and my mom’s funeral. It was frustrating to see around half the people making no effort to contain the virus. It revealed how selfish some people truly were.

Despite the troubling times things weren’t as bad with the family. Both Jamie and I remained employed even though many had lost their jobs. The girls have gotten into the rhythm of taking classes remotely through Zoom meetings and Google Classroom. It was terribly difficult for Jamie to pull off things as a teacher and had to do her best just to survive. For myself things couldn't be better. Working from home was no different than working at the office. Most of my social interactions with friends had already been remote so not much changed there. Jamie and girls had it tougher as they didn't get to see their friends. The girls could interact with friends via gaming, but only with the ones who have the same gaming systems.

There were definitely some positive things we experienced as a family during the pandemic. First, we've had so much extra time together as a family which will be missed when things go back to "normal". Another plus was no one got sick for a year. We also had time to do more home projects including building out a path and upgrading our patio. Finally, we've saved a lot of money by just staying home. Hopefully we'll be able to invest in a very nice vacation once things return back to "normal".

As I write this the end is far from near, but with the vaccines ramping up I expect the worst of this pandemic to eventually be behind us. Jamie received her two shots of vaccinations when the teachers were moved up on the list and was fully vaccinated by April 1. I got my vaccinations in April/May. Rachel is on deck for July, when she turns 16. Hopefully younger age groups will be approved for vaccination before school starts in the fall making way for Lily, and maybe Vivian, to get their shots.