WHO: I was 28.

WHERE:  I worked in the City and lived in an apartment building on a high floor.

WHEN:  It was the middle of March in 2020.

WHAT:  Suddenly COVID was everywhere and the City was mostly shut down. I couldn’t go to work, I didn’t want to get in the elevator in my apartment building because we were warned to keep 6 feet away from other people. So, I decided to move to the country to my mother’s house. I had to find new ways to do so many things. We ordered groceries online. I had to find new ways to make a living. Because we were in the country we could take long walks outside which made life much more tolerable during ‘lock down’. My sister had stayed in the city with her elderly grand mother who was in danger from COVID because of her age. They did not leave their apartment for nearly 3 months.

WHY:  Life was turned upside down. Restaurants were closed, kids couldn’t go to school, masks were required everywhere and we were afraid of being close to anyone.

HOW:  The streets were quiet, the shops and restaurants were closed. People put hearts outside of their houses and in some places people would ring bells or bang on pots at the same time every day to say thank you to healthcare workers and those people who worked in ‘front line’ places like grocery stores and pharmacies. When some businesses began to open, plastic barriers were placed to protect customers from workers, marks were on the floor to direct traffic to keep people from being close to each other, masks were required and air purifiers were everywhere. In the early Spring of 2021, vaccines began to be available and things began to open up a little bit. It was hard to believe that we were experiencing this strange new way of life and could never have imagined that it could last as long as it did. Nearly 3 years later, COVID is still a worry.