Four Years of COVID
At some point, I dropped writing the 19 with COVID-19, but it has been about four years of masked living. This week, four years ago, there was a guard at the door of the medical facility when I went to get a mammogram. The twins’ school closed for two weeks, which stretched into about a year and a half. And the stores emptied out as cases started multiplying. By March 15th, we had created an isolation plan as a family. By March 18th, we were all at home for many, many, many months.
We started taking walks and talking to people from the bottom of their driveway. We FaceTimed with family. And we lamented about how hard it was to find soap. I dreamed about soap. I talked nonstop about soap.
We still mask. We still carry hand sanitizer in our pockets. We’ve had many vaccinations. But we travel again. We see friends. We go to parties and eat outdoors. It’s a good life; not as carefree as it was four years ago, but so much better than the beginning when I dreamed about soap.
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It will never be the same, and I sort of mourn that innocence. I mean I knew from my job that everyone is filthy and disgusting, but now I absolutely know it. On the other hand, we got some extra family time, and that was a good thing.
I wore a mask for the first time in weeks on the bus into town a few days ago. Here, there are only a few outliers who still mask. But I miss the days when everyone masked. It felt safer, and so much more inclusive. I don’t know about you, but I am so much more careful now with soap and sanitiser and how I wash my hands!
Four years though! I watched something the other day from pre-covid, joking about someone licking a bat and starting a pandemic (okay, I confess, it was about Jason on The Good Place), and just cringed. Made in 2016. We were indeed so innocent then.
I have a covid-versary post in my drafts folder; I may still post it later this week (just been too busy to finish it up!). You’ve put it very well (and much more succinctly than I can!).
I think the worst part is how divisive these past four years have been. I feel like so many people have amnesia about just how bad it all was — and still is! It’s still very much of a threat to our collective and individual health and well being, but it feels like our governments (and corporations) are determined to move us all along (“nothing to see here”) and have us believing it’s over (it’s not) and that it’s no more serious than a bad cold or the flu (maybe, but maybe not). Sigh.