I don’t know about you, but for me this Pandemic has caused much stress and a longing for the normal we used to have. Thankfully, none of my friends or family have been gravely I’ll with COVID-19. Still, I have missed out on long-overdue family reunions and even small gatherings due to fears of contracting the virus. The Christmas 2021 family reunion almost happened, but was intercepted by post Christmas Omicron-fueled flight cancellations. We were so close!

Then there is always the fear and uncertainty we have all been living with for nearly two years. Not a single person’s life is untouched by the Pandemic. This fact alone can inspire a range of stories! What were your darkest moments and greatest triumphs during the first months of the pandemic?

My darkness began with the pain of lockdown. The crippling anxiety of my adolescence, dormant for many years, came roaring back. I didn’t know if my job, summer 2020 family reunion or sanity would survive this new reality. Like many families, ours turned inward. No more gatherings with extended family and friends, just short trips to the grocery store. Torture for a restless socialite like me! As an outside sales rep I was now conducting business from my dining room table and couch. It seemed like time itself had gotten COVID and had run out of energy and vitality. A door-to-door sales colleague of mine had to stop working in order to guide his son through Kindergarten Zoom.

One positive experience from that era was our family time. No longer in a rush to get to places and activities, we spent each day together. For the first time we were eating dinners as a family each night and would go outside and play games in our driveway by day. Me, my wife, our son and daughter. We made sure to take short local hikes each day to get fresh air and break out of our house arrest. Without the pandemic we may never have slowed down to become better acquainted with each other, with our family unit.

Of course, there were more disruptions in store.
In 2021 we spent several months planning a trip to Arizona to celebrate my in-laws 50th wedding anniversary. We got vaccinated and boosted (the adults) and couldn’t wait to go. Then, out of nowhere came the Omicron variant and my nieces tested positive with the rest of their hockey team. One family now unable to travel due to quarantine. On Christmas Eve, two days before our flight my wife’s family panicked amid media reports of flight cancellations. Now our entire trip was in jeopardy. Then, the decision was made to cancel our trip and we discovered later that our flight would have been canceled anyway because of flight crews out sick with COVID.

How has your life been interrupted? Aside from causing frustration, disappointment and heartache, what positive experiences might this pandemic have brought you? Maybe you’ve developed strategies to live with more uncertainty.

My family and I continue to forge on as normally as we can. Now, in the first quarter of 2023 we cautiously but optimistically plan yet another attempt at destination family gatherings…wish us luck!!