Well, it got us.
For nearly three years, the four of us in our little family have avoided COVID. That first year, once lockdowns began, we barely left our house. Danny and I took turns going to the grocery store once a week, in masks, leaving fast. It really did feel like we were stuck in isolation forever. That’s why I emphasized joy.
But underneath that joy I prioritized for our family to hold us together, I was pretty scared. My doctor told me, before lockdowns began, that I had to be extra careful. With an autoimmune disorder (celiac), complex PTSD and all the complications for my immune system with that, plus having survived pneumonia 7 times? I was absolutely at high risk.
Even when the world started to open, I stayed at home. I wore a mask everywhere. Sometimes two. And even though our lives before COVID — and especially before Deej was born — meant traveling around the country for our work 5 to 6 times a year, we haven’t traveled anywhere in 3 years now.
Fact is, my life has been circumscribed by COVID. I bet you feel the same too. Where do I go these days? My wonderful new office, where we have lots of air purifiers and open doors, for working during the day. To drop Deej off at their outdoor school. The grocery store sometimes. And…well, that’s about it. We’ve been to the movie theater three or times since COVID began, always with masks, sitting way in the back. I really don’t leave the island anymore. I don’t eat at restaurants, except a few times outside during the summer. The memory of eating inside a restaurant is fuzzy in my mind. We get takeout once a week, when our budget allows it.
Oh, I’ve felt stuck in all this. But I’ve been working more and more deeply to understand my mind and erase any neurological stress. Our health mattered more than the annoyance of a circumscribed life.
So what happened?
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