Thursday 23 March 2023

Three Years On...

Is it really three years today since we began the first lockdown? Time has played tricks with my brain, I find it hard to remember what happened and when. We didn't have covid tests back then, but I was displaying symptoms so this sign was already up in our front porch
We came through it OK, though Bob was pretty ill soon after. Sadly a number of our friends caught covid and did not recover. Others struggled with separation from loved ones - particularly those living in care homes. Isolation brought distress and confusion to elderly folk, and others with health issues.
Covid has not gone away - it is still claiming lives [including Auntie Peggy] I was sad to hear people on the bus mocking folk who were still wearing masks. That was unnecessary and unkind, and they were words spoken in ignorance.
But this graphic from March 2020 still holds true. Peggy knew this truth, and it gives me comfort too. 





19 comments:

  1. Well said. Can't believe it is 3 years! This time, 3 years ago, we all turned up to school to see how many Key Worker kids we would have and had to clean up our rooms. At the end of the day, I then discovered, at the end of thr day, I could not taste my strong cheese sandwich at all nor smell it, despite not having a cold and panicking what this meant.x

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    1. My sense of smell went haywire too. Can I recommend the website AbScent.org to anyone who has problems with this - I've found the exercises there really helpful

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  2. We went into lock down on March 17 (northern California/Bay Area) and the entire state of California effective March 19, 2020. I am still sheltering at home for the most part and I wear a mask when I go out or when anyone comes to my house. I know people have resumed "normal" life but this is now my normal.

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  3. I think that many people with underlying health issues are in the same situation, Bless. Yesterday we saw an old friend who has taken early retirement due to the effects of Long Covid. The condition is utterly debilitating - it was hard to see the change in someone who was so active just a few years ago, but now is exhausted after the smallest activity.

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  4. You've reminded me this is the date. I keep a journal , though it always has a lot of gaps. Like Dorothy Wordsworth, I should write"I have forgotten" The 2020 one recorded the fear and sadness of the time. Also the courage and kindness of those days, the human spirit.
    You are right about the need to take care. Our very dearly loved nice, though already ill , died of Covid, two days after last Christmas. We have been told to isolate for 6 days soon before my husband goes on the day ward in April. So thankful for the vaccine and that wonderful promise you have quoted today . love Isabel

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    1. I am so sorry for the loss of your niece. I hope your husband's hospital appointment goes ok

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  5. My daughter caught Covid a year ago and is still suffering from the after effects. We all try to be as careful as other people will let us but I still find people standing too close or insisting on shaking hands, makes me very uncomfortable. Catriona

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    1. Perhaps there should be some sort of recognised badge which says "please give me some space, I'm still shielding. Thankyou!"

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  6. Wow, three years ago, I honestly had two years in my head, but nope it's most definitely three. Doesn't time go by so quickly and haven't we all been through so much.

    Thanks for that website address, I will be over having a look. I have had absolutely no sense of smell since last May when I picked up Covid in Spain. What I first thought was a bad holiday cold, knocked me off my feet when I returned home and although I felt better within a couple of weeks my sense of smell has never returned.

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    1. I've found the exercises helpful Sue. I do have the occasional days when I cannot smell properly - but they have assisted in recovery (I can wake up and smell the coffee again!) Buy the essential oils individually in the chemist, don't waste money on the fancy pre-packaged selections

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  7. My Grandson was born 3 years ago past Saturday just gone. I'll never forget going to visit them when they got home from hospital and wondering when would be the next time I would be able to hold my new baby grandson because lockdown was about to start.I'll never forget the look on my son and daughter-in-law's faces as I waved them goodbye. Further heartbreak was to come that first Christmas when I delivered my Grandaughters' presents to them by leaving the presents on their doorstep and them waving at me through their kitchen window! There were many other grandparents doing the same thing on the little estate where the family live. It was all very dystopian. I also had to retire earlier than I wanted because of long COVID (even though I was past my retirement age).

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    1. Oh wasn't it hard? I was so anxious for Steph when George was born in the second month of lockdown and health visitors/midwives would only do "online visits" Sorry too about the Long Covid - a complication which wasn't expected

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  8. That is an all time favourite quotation, I love it.
    We still are invited to wear masks in certain locations and I usually wear mine in grocery stores and I am still reluctant to attend big events like concerts. It's an on and off time now. I feel sad that some people don't respect the needs of others to wear masks continually. There are plenty of immuno-suppressed people who must be careful.

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    1. Take care - of ourselves, and of others ❤️

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  9. We refer to 2020 as the lost year at our house. It seemed like a year outside of time-I suppose because it was like nothing we'd experienced before. It doesn't seem like it's already been 3 years and yet in someways it seems like much more, if that makes any sense.

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    1. "A year outside of time" is a perceptive description

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  10. Truly true. We still wear masks de to compromised immune systems and besides, there is still scary stuff out there.
    Stay safe!

    Hugs

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    1. Hugs (distanced!) sent back to you 😊

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