3 Things COVID Life Gave Me
It’s a universal fact that COVID took something from everyone. For some it took more from than others, but no one was spared some loss. One of my projects at work last year was to engage alumni from the Class of 2020 as they processed leaving campus for spring break in March 2020, never to return as students. They lost the chance to say goodbye to friends, experiencing a normal commencement, and observing those traditions and rights of passage they had been looking forward to since they were freshmen. My husband missed out on seeing his niece transition from a baby into a spirited, fearless toddler as COVID kept him from visiting his family for over a year. Our own wedding, like many couples we know, was fundamentally changed, with family members and dearest friends absent and public health worries very much present. A few weeks ago, I mentioned to my former boss that I’d worked for him for the last year and a half, to which he looked at me, blinked, and reminded me that it had actually been 2 and 1/2 years; I’d forgotten to count the year I’d worked from home. As the country still grapples with the Delta variant, it is clear that while we may be over the pandemic, it isn’t over us. It’s easy to wonder what more the pandemic can still take. How much more can we bare?
As this questions haunts me, I find my thoughts drifting back over the last year and a half. As present as those losses are, I also remember everything this strange, unprecedented time has given me. I think of the time with my brother before he moved to Newfoundland, Canada, something I’ll forever value. I’ve developed hobbies and passions that I wouldn’t have had time or courage to try if not for the emptiness of time offered by the sudden stop of the entire world. I renewed my commitment to maintaining friendships no matter the distance. This strange and at times isolating season gave me even more still. It changed the very way I looked at the world around me, and how I moved through it. It opened my eyes to some of best gifts in my life, allowing me to appreciate them in a new, deeper way.
Love for the North Country
For someone who grew up in the shadows of the Adirondack mountains and on the edge of the St. Lawrence river, I never fully appreciated how special the North Country is until last couple of years. This remote place, as my mother likes to say, is wonderful but poorly located. Throughout my adolescence, its poor location clouded everything else that sets this northern place apart. Something changed in the last two years, perhaps due to falling in love with Austin, a man who continuously sees and marvels at the hand of God at work in nature. Perhaps the change came from the fact with the arrival of COVID, only the natural wonder of the North Country remained unchanged. Whatever the case, this land of mountains and rivers, of small towns and universities, of farms and lakes, has captured my heart and soul in a way entirely new from my childhood. I don’t mind the lack of choices of restaurants or shopping, but value those that we have and love our small market street dearly. Our local thrift shops and used book sales are full of treasures waiting to be discovered. Whether visiting our small co-op with its aroma of spices and fresh bread, or getting a coffee from the baristas who know our orders by heart, I experience a deep sense of community in this place.
We are blessed with far more than just a cozy community. The natural splendor of the north is a thing to behold. The vivid, wide sunsets and misty waterfront sunrises fill me with hope and wonder. The songbirds that populate the trails my husband and I frequent along the river make each day a new adventure. My burning calves are an easy price for experiencing the sweeping views of the mountain range after a hike. There is a remote beauty here, even in the center of the small University and Adirondack towns. It’s a simple beauty, but a powerful one all the same. I can’t know what the future brings, or where life will take Austin and me in the coming years. While I know that I’ll always love this place, I also know that should life take us somewhere else, the last two years have taught me to see beauty in the world, to appreciate the communities and landscapes around me.
Appreciation for Simple Things
For Valentine’s Day 2020, my husband and I thought we’d do something different, and order our Valentine’s date dinner as fancy takeout to have at home. Little did we know that starting a month later, all our date nights would be takeout at home for quite some time. Suddenly, our word became much smaller. No longer did we go on day trips to Canada or eat at the restaurants around the area. My ideas for a weekend in NYC together became nothing more than a dream. Even our honeymoon plans went from a cute Air BnB in downtown Quebec City for a historical week filled with french cafes and old bookstores to a solitary cabin in the Adirondacks and a whole lot of hiking. And we loved every minute of it. Over the last year and a half, we’ve found joy and adventure in the simplest of ways, from early morning walks together to rewatching our favorite films at home. We enjoyed fancy date nights at home, complete with our best clothes and dancing in the living room. Still not feeling comfortable yet to travel to highly populated destinations, once vaccinated our vacations became visits to catch up with family, or largely outdoor experiences within a half day’s drive, such as Vermont or the Adirondacks.
While the pandemic spurred on these lifestyle choices, it allowed us to love every minute of our life together as we lived on a budget, and never question if we had enough. Over the last year, we’ve balanced our lives on the sum of my non-exempt university staff salary and Austin’s PhD student stipend. We haven’t let ourselves ponder what we lack, but rather enjoy that which we have. Our life is brimming with adventure, even if it is just outside our door or experienced at our kitchen table. Someday the pandemic will be over, and by then, between my new job and my husband no longer living on a PhD student stipend, perhaps we’ll be able to finally have that week in Quebec - or maybe even our dream tour of Scotland or even Europe. We’ll have a house, eventually, and maybe even some furniture that isn’t from Amazon or IKEA, and maybe even a new car. Until then, however, I’m just as thankful to have the simple things, and I always will. We’ve found a joy in celebrating that which we have and value most of all: the time we spend with each other.
A Strong Foundation
Lockdown certainly had its challenges, but for me, working from home was not one of them. Anyone who knows me at least a little bit won’t be shocked that I describe myself as a “nester.” My space is sacred to me, and I deeply value time at home with people I love. Naturally, I relished the year working from home alongside my husband. Some days I worked in my office, and he in the living room. Other days we worked in the living room or kitchen together, and on those weeks in the winter when I struggled with various health concerns (non-COVID related), he could work next to me as I lay in bed. As much as I enjoy working with colleagues again, I miss those times and value my time with my husband all the more. Over the last year and half, as we learned to be husband and wife, we’ve been able to appreciate anew how much we loved to spend each and every moment together.
This time together wasn’t simply a precious gift. It bound us together in a truly unique way. Even in the height of the pandemic, with the isolation and the winter snow all around us, we shared such love. In that love, we experienced a deep, world changing wonder. Our love changed our lives, our world. In loving each other, we found a light through some of the hardest experiences I pray we will ever face. Each day we discovered how trusting in our love, trusting in each other, made us each stronger, kinder people. In together facing the pandemic, and the swirl of loneliness, fear, and uncertainty that accompanied it, I’ve realized how much more prepared we are for the uncertainty of the future. There is so much we can’t predict, but I know with fiber of my being, to the depths of my soul, that I can always trust in the love. Our life is beautiful, and we love each other. Or maybe our life is beautiful because we love each other. Regardless of the ebbs and flows of life, we will always have each other, bound together by that heavenly vow of love we made on our wedding day, as we bear, believe, hope, and endure all things together.
