12 Weeks.

Thursday was the beginning of my 12th week isolated at home. Day #84. March 12th, 2020 was my final day of work at the hospice. It was an incredibly busy day. Except on that day, I had no idea that this is where we'd be today, June 6th, 2020. In the moment then, we were all trying to truly comprehend what was happening around the World. And hoping that the very few cases in Canada at the time were just flukes and the virus would not become a huge issue here. But 12 weeks (and 2 days) later, our country is about 16th down on the list of numbers. We have had just over 94,000 confirmed cases. My family and I live in a County that has a population of around 96,000 ~ it's strange to think of this number in context to my community. It's huge. But in a Country of 36,000,000, and in relation to the other 15 countries that have higher numbers than us, we've done really well staying home, staying well and flattening the curve. Unfortunately, we have had just over 7,000 deaths, most of which have occurred in long term care homes and other facilities. So sad. As our numbers continue to decline (in our Province, we only had 7 cases yesterday and no deaths again), our leaders have begun to re~open some services. For the last 12 weeks, only essential services were available: fire, police, hospitals (health clinics were closed and doctors worked remotely), fast food drive thru only, grocery stores (but no deli's, no self serve baking, flower shops, etc.) and gas stations. Everything else was closed. Ordering items online has become our new normal. Now things are slowly opening. You can visit some stores but with restrictions. You can have dinner at a restaurant but seating is limited. You can now get your hair cut. Or visit the dentist. We've gotten used to this new life and really haven't missed much. Except for our favorite book store, though we've been able to order books and puzzles online with no issues. We were picking up a grocery order the other day and dh happened to glance over at our Mall and saw people going in. And then noticed the door to the bookstore was open. Off we went to venture inside. We both just stood there, after being greeted by a store employee who had has use sanitizer before going further. It was lovely to take in the sight and to wander for a few moments. My favorite Brit magazine was in stock (I had given up hope of ever being able to buy it again) and I trekked to the front corner, with my prize in my hand. I couldn't wait to get home to read it. After sanitizing!

Our family is not in a big hurry to get back to the way life was before Covid. In the moment, we are quite content to work from home (though dh has returned to his office this week a few days here and there), and the gifts that have come out of this experience have helped make some changes in our life. We have been blessed to not have anyone in our lives become ill. But we do have fear about a 2nd wave. We will continue to stay safe, stay home and stay healthy. Life has changed forever but we are grateful for our little retreat in the forest, a cottage that keeps us warm and dry, careers that can be done from home, family and friends that are healthy and keeping in touch, and new memories that have been created as we've learned to navigate this new life. My hope today is that all of you have embraced your new normal for the last 12 weeks and together, we'll ensure this virus slows until a vaccine is developed and offered. 

Happy Saturday! Be well, my blogging buddies!!

~ Chy