One Year In A Pandemic

A year ago, I left my office in New Hampshire at 5 pm, bringing home a notebook and my coffee mug, with full expectations to be working from home for a couple of weeks and then going back into the office. I was in the thick of event season at work and little did I know all 3 of the events were to be rescheduled and moved to virtual which required a lot of resources we didn’t have and to start doing things we just didn’t know what to do. I left my plant, turned off the lights, and enjoyed the weekend.

In just the few weekends before we had gone snow tubing, to a new brewery, had friends visit for the weekend, and visited the ice castles. No masks in sight.

I had plans for the upcoming week to travel to New Jersey to see my family and attend my friend’s bridal shower. Things were still a bit iffy in New Hampshire, but there were not a lot of cases so life was pretty normal besides working from home. New Jersey was a different story – so I cancelled my trip.

And in between that day and now I experienced positives: I learned how to make pasta, I hiked with my boyfriend and our dog, I turned 27, we celebrated our 4 year anniversary, I got a new job, and moved closer to my family.

And in between that day and now I experienced negatives: I was laid off, made the hard decision to leave New Hampshire, lost family members, gained weight, and lived apart and out of suitcases.

In the beginning of the pandemic, I found the alone time refreshing. I kickstarted new hobbies, learned new things, and finished reading Harry Potter. At this point in the pandemic, I am so tired.

Life is hard enough without a pandemic, working a majority of the day/week, catching up on all the chores and shopping, and then trying to squeeze in something fun. I feel like I’ve been looking out the window for 12 months and nothing has changed, but everything has changed.