Ok, I’ll admit it… I’ll miss the pandemic
Obviously, I won’t miss the bad parts of the pandemic. I won’t miss the constraints on our movement and the effect on our business. The friends and family members we have lost or left behind will be the awful and lasting reminder of this moment in time. Obviously, I won’t miss that; but for the first time in my lifetime, our entire community, our entire country, have been fighting the same fight and every citizen has had to pull in the same direction.
We did this by accepting the temporary impacts on our freedom. Wearing masks because we know it will protect our neighbours. Keeping our kids home from school because it ensured that we didn’t spread the virus to our teachers. Skipping holidays, birthdays, weddings, events, religious ceremonies, births, deaths, anniversaries; all because we wanted to do what is best for our community, small and large. We did these things because the people we trust to keep us safe told us to…and we listened, together. We did these things understanding the significance of our choices, but we did them nonetheless and we did them together.
When we arrived at the grocery store and stood with our neighbours in the socially distanced line with our masks, we did it together.
When we were asked to stay inside, only to go out for essentials, no matter how hard it was to be alone, regardless of the toll on us, we did it together.
When the school closures were announced, we looked at one another with terror at the idea of trying to homeschool, work, rest, run households, all at the same time. But we did it nonetheless and we did it together.
And now, as we are being asked to get vaccinated and keep our masks on, we put aside our fears and hesitations, we put our faith and our trust in science and we do it together.
Despite the challenges and the loss, something has been gained in our communities, perhaps around the world. In an era where people are increasingly polarized it’s becoming increasingly hard to have a shared experience even with our closest friends let alone with people who we don’t know or with whom we differ. But because of the pandemic, for the first time in modern memory, we have a single, shared experience. Our struggles have been unique, and our stories are individual, but the experience has been shared. And in the experience, we have found camaraderie, generosity, ingenuity, creativeness and humanity.
As the country undergoes a collective peak through the curtains and emerges from our two-year slumber, as restrictions ease, I find myself conflicted. I am desperate to return my business and my family to some level of normalcy. I want to celebrate successes like we used to and interact with my friends the way we did prior to pandemic. But COVID-19 is still with us and we are still in the throes of a global pandemic, people are still getting sick, hospitals are still full and the vulnerable are still at risk. I believe that our transition back needs to be treated with the same level of attention, sensitivity, and creativity as we gave to the implementation of the restrictions 24 months ago. And while I welcome the easing of restrictions, I am committing to remembering the pandemic. I will make my transition back to normalcy with thoughtful consideration for my community. I will slowly join social gatherings, I will wear my mask, I will advocate strongly for the use of vaccines, and I will do everything in my power to keep my neighbours safe. The restrictions are easing but that doesn’t remove our collective responsibility.
I liked knowing that I had my community with me. I liked knowing that as I got better my neighbours got better. I liked knowing that someone was looking out for me and my family and my business and that there were people doing everything thing in their power to make sure that I wasn’t left behind. So yeah, I’ll admit it… I’m going to miss the pandemic.