#52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks 2024 - Week 4 - Witness to History

For this week’s prompt I have decided to write about my own witness to history.

I have lived through the Covid years.  In Australia the first case of the Covid 19 virus was recorded in January 2020.  We  are still living with Covid but now in 2024 it is an accepted fact that we have to do just that ….live with it.  My husband and I as a retired couple were vaccinated and kept up to date with booster shots.

But in reality it didn’t have a big impact on my life til about mid 2020.  We were advised to stay at home first and then the compulsory lockdowns came into place at different times in differed states.

Being retired it became our practise of tuning in each morning to the TV for updates on the cases in Australia and the advice being given by the Health Authorities.  

We became very adept on hand washing and sanitising everywhere we went.  There were Apps on our phones that had to be signed into if we visited anywhere for medical or other appointments.  We were also required to wear masks wherever we went outside of the home.

Being in the age group of most at risk, family were not allowed to visit but the ones in our town were able to drop things off to us without actually coming inside.  We became adept at online shopping and online grocery shopping became the normal with home delivery or click and collect.

Non essential workers were required to stay at home and work from home if possible.  Schools were only open for children of the essential workers.  So this then meant that parents were now working from home and also supervising their children’s online school work.  I know that it was a challenge for our three families with children. But amazingly they all adapted and embraced the challenge but it was still not easy.  Children missed out on the vital interaction that goes on in the classroom setting.  Many of the children’s outdoor sporting activities were suspended and I feel a lot of children once they stopped playing weekend sport found it difficult to return to it.

For me personally as an avid “crafter” and being retired, I didn’t find it difficult to fill my days.  I made approximately thirty face masks and also joined an online Patchwork and Quilting Mystery Quilt group, which filled my days easily and resulted in a new passion and quite a few quilts finished with more in the making.

We became excellent Zoom participants with our 4 children and their spouses and our grandchildren.  But these Zoom gatherings were missing the physical component of hugs and cuddles with our Grandies.

We zoomed with our friend groups as well. But it was never the same as sitting with a drink or cuppa with treasured friends. 

These are just some of my thoughts on being a witness to history, which the Covid Pandemic was and still is!  Many lives were lost and many suffered.  It impacted on people’s mental health and well-being in lots of ways, including through isolation and loneliness, job loss and financial instability, and illness and grief.  

But most importantly I think it has taught a lot of us that life is indeed precious and worth looking after each other and that family is a great blessing.