When the pandemic first hit I think I really didn’t understand what was going on or the full scale of the issue at hand. I remember the first time hearing of it and thinking in no way can it reach our location. I remember the day it was confirmed that there was a case in our area. I worked part-time, and my supervisor just instructed all of us to go home and wait for more information.

Life has never been the same since then. That was a year ago. I never would have thought it would still be here by now. At first, we would have conversations about our post-pandemic plans but those ended at some point. We started using terms that had never before been part of our vocabulary, terms like social distancing.

We saw days turn into months and months into a year. However, with the new year came new hope. Vaccines. The hope was a positive thing but came with its own worries and questions. Were there enough trials conducted with vaccines within such a “short” space of time? Was it safe? Who would be able to get vaccinated? Are things finally going to get better? So many questions!

At the end of it all, we can only be grateful for life for us who are still here. COVID-19 knew no race, no financial status. It affected all of us. At this point, we can only hope and be patient that tomorrow will be a better day and that we will regain some form of normalcy. Until then we can only do our best to stay safe.