Almost two years ago, exactly, our world drastically changed. Everyone holed up at home, scared to enter the world and catch Covid 19/Corona Virus. (Except Jason, once he got to feeling better from most likely having Covid before it was a known thing, he just went to work everyday like nothing had changed). The world basically shut down -- special hours, curbside pick up encouraged, no dining room service only drive through or carryout. If someone coughed or sneezed anywhere near you, you were instantly suspicious. Our parents lived on complete edge and worry, taking in every ounce of information the news was constantly throwing in their faces. It was a time of great uncertainty, lots of information being thrown at us from trusted news sources, social media, and hearsay from those in the medical profession.
We spent March to May just trying to figure out our new life. No baseball. No softball. Lots of time with our animals. Lots of crafts. School from home. Porch drop offs with teachers we had missed and adored seeing in person. We tried different carryout options and made our own Arni's pizza at home. As summer rolled in, we started to feel a bit more like normal, though there were still plenty of restrictions that changed the life we were used to. The White County Fair took place, in person, masked, but only one day at a time for the livestock shows. No frills otherwise. By the of summer it was being said that covid hardly spread outdoors, but indoors were the issue.
School came back and the kids could go back, but with a mask on. Sitting 3 ft apart. Standing in lines 6 ft apart. If someone around them got sick, they'd get contact traced, which means if they were with an infected person for more than 15 minutes consecutively, they'd have to go home and ride out their own quarantine, sick or not, until the designated amount of time had passed (14 days). We made it to November before I started feeling just dog tired. Slight cold symptoms but just wiped out. Out of guilt, I got tested. Positive. No one else in the family seemed to catch this overly contagious disease, and while I didn't do what the news was telling us to (stay in a room all by myself and away from my family for 14 days), they still didn't catch it. Certainly, we didn't share drinks, etc.....but I also lived amongst my people. I'm mom, we don't get privacy. And Jason and I both agreed -- if one of us gets it, let's all get it and get it over with. The kids were home for 14+ days because I was sick, while they were perfectly fine. So on top of not feeling well, I had to monitor their online learning and help teach them while they were forced to stay home. Yes, Jason was still going to work daily. When the state finally called me based on my positive test to do contact tracing they asked me when the last time I was around my children, and I snarkily said 14 seconds ago.....to which she said they'd have to start their 14 days now, after having already been home for 5 days. Ya, NO. So I retracted my statements and we moved on with life. Thankfully (is that a thing?), my entire family minus Trent & Stef were coming off 2 weeks of quarantine/having covid, so we got together for Thanksgiving figuring we were as safe as possible in that situation. We did not get together with the Stockment family out of fear. Christmas was much the same -- we gathered with the Halls and went to church, but Matt's family wore masks to be safe. Our take at that point was simply do what you think is best. No one really knew what to do, right or wrong.
Back to school in masks, then two weeks of virtual learning to lower case numbers ... you get the drift. But we made it to the end of 2020-21 school year, albiet a bumpy ride from quarantines, contact tracing, and never ending chaos. Planning ahead is basically now a thing of the past. I almost expect a hiccup to be tossed into life. But baseball came back. And softball came back. And we were still doing cattle shows and pig shows and just .... living life. While Covid is scary and has wreaked so much havoc and heartache on our world, we also know we have a God who wrote our story before we were born, so we chose to live. I could die from a car accident while hiding out fearing dying from Covid -- so I might as well live. And that we did.
It seemed like Covid would come and go. Covid wasn't a thing in the summer time, but rears it's ugly head when it's colder out. No masks to start school, then masks, then no masks. Some places still require them. Many restaurants are still not open to dining in because they are short staffed. But for us, as parents, the most lingering "UGH" of Covid was the chaos that contact tracing (usually of perfectly healthy kids, JUST in case) and masks in school were the biggest headache. Kids couldn't have a headache, sore throat, or any other basic symptom without being red flagged for covid. Em puked once the day after superbowl and was forced to quarantine and get tested. She ate a bad chicken wing! HA
So, in late February 2022.........nearly 2 years after this chaos started....we got the call from the school that they were lifting the contacting tracing measures. Quarantining was no longer required. If there's a positive case within a classroom, parents will be notified to monitor symptoms. IT FELT SO FREEING! Like the light at the end of the tunnel had FINALLY come around! Due to CDC requirements, kids were still forced to wear masks on the school bus, but just last weekend that was lifted too. Covid is still around, and probably always will be -- but FINALLY I feel like we are through the worst of it. We'll see what next winter brings -- if restrictions resurface, but we're back to using common sense and living our lives and being with our loved ones and not living in fear.
I can say we are likely living through a part of history that will forever be remembered, which is kind of a weird thought. Maybe someday our grandkids will read this and be like "wait, what?".....but we embraced the changes, we complained about the changes, we got REALLY used to zoom meetings and online learning and we are still here to tell about it. PRAYING so hard that we continue on this path and get our kids back to normal in school. If I learned one thing in the last two years, it's that my kids can all three DO virtual learning, but they THRIVE in the classroom. It's where they need to be. And it's where I need them to be, because let's face it -- I'm not a good teacher! :)
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