Teri Vance: A year’s worth of a pandemic

It’s been a year since the world shifted. What we thought initially would be a couple of weeks, then maybe a few months, has now been one year that we’ve quarantined, worn masks and remained socially distant.

As restrictions are starting to ease a bit, and people are – sometimes cautiously – venturing back out in the public space, I think a lot of us are still processing what just happened and wondering what the future holds.

I do not purport to have any answers – those seem to be hard to come by at this point – but wanted to provide a forum to examine this past year.

The stress has taken a toll on some relationships, but also provided time and space to strengthen others.

“My relationship with my husband has gotten a lot better. We have grown stronger as a couple and been able to have more quality time than ever before,” said Mai-Li Henthorn. “My relationship with my parents and siblings has been strained though. My husband is more high risk, and their feelings have been hurt when we choose to stay home instead of hanging out with or going on trips with them. Still though for how close I have been able to get with my husband I am grateful for this past year!”

There is no doubt that people have strong feelings about wearing masks – both for and against it. This division has spilled into other areas as well.

“This pandemic mask-wearing situation was made more contentious because of a highly controversial election,” said Heidi Brandow. “People’s psyches were on overdrive, which resulted in folks behaving differently. Some lashed out, some went within themselves, some reached out for interaction, some recreated themselves, some learned new things, some resorted to doing things the old way, etc. It was a very tumultuous year to be sure, and I think it will be years before we really know the long-term effects of mask wearing.”

Young people bore a lot of the brunt of the shut down – from schools to sports and social engagements.

“The mental health impacts on our youth have been immense,” said Racquel Abowd. “We have yet to see what the end result will look like. Life altering in many ways.”

It extended to those a little bit older, too.

“As a young, single adult, this sucks,” said Kaeleigh Fowler. “I’m young and trying to live my life. I can’t do that with life canceled. Plus, it’s been impossible to create new friendships and relationships.”

Parents and family members had to fill the void.

“I’ve learned that I’m definitely not cut out for homeschooling kids,” Amy Seifert. “One thing that I already knew but has been highlighted by the pandemic is that teachers deserve a lot more respect and higher pay for all they do.”

Jesse Neff captured the frustration I know many of us feel – we don’t know the solution, but we know we’re bummed by what’s going on.

“I've learned that nobody knew exactly how to handle a situation like this, yet everyone wants to point the finger after the fact how things should have been handled,” he said. “Also there is no replacement for live music, and it irks me to no end that music events are being canceled in July 2021.”