Recovery

When all of this started, I have to admit, I was a little excited. I mean, sure the virus scared me, but everyone said that if you were young and relatively healthy, you had nothing to fear; so I figured I was fine. And when they told me I didn’t have to go to work for two weeks, well, how could I not be just a little excited? Work has been so stressful recently, and I was looking forward to all of the things that I never have time for anymore: the spring cleaning I’ve neglected for five years now, the DIY projects that I keep telling myself I’ll do one day, the workouts that I can never find the time for.

Surprisingly, I actually stayed pretty regimented. I got up at a decent time each day, less than an hour later than I usually did for work. I ate breakfast, worked out, read for a while and then got to work. I was in heaven. I’m not an overly social person, either, so I was just fine staying at home, just me and my husband.

Then two weeks turned into three. And that was fine. I still had plenty to do, but I started to worry. Maybe this thing was worse than I thought. I started doing research into it, and sure enough, it was bad. I started worrying more. I still got stuff done, and I was pretty proud of how productive I was being. It was getting harder, since I wasn’t getting a paycheck anymore, but hey, we weren’t spending much money anyway, right?

A month went by. Then two. I chugged on, getting mountains of things done. I’d never felt so productive. Who needs the outside world anyway? I had everything I needed right here. I certainly didn’t miss my coworkers, and I didn’t miss the stress of work. Sure, it would have been nice to see friends now and again, but we talked on the phone, and that was enough.

When it was finally over, I didn’t go out right away. I waited, testing the waters, making sure it was safe to come out. But when I finally stepped out, I expected everything to resume as normal.

And it did, mostly. People seem a little more cautious. Less people touch each other. More people wash their hands or wipe down counters. A lot of people give each other a wide berth. Not unexpected, any of it.

But what did surprise me were the smiles – the genuine joy on people’s faces when they see each other. And not just friends or even acquaintances. Complete strangers are smiling and saying hello when they once would have ignored each other and kept on walking. Neighbors are checking up on each other, offering to help each other.

Kids are outside. I mean, it’s practically summer, so that’s not surprising, but it’s not just the younger kids at the park. Teenagers are out riding bikes, playing football in the park, hanging out outside like they did when I was a kid. Everyone is outside, just enjoying life. After so many years of retreating further and further away from each other – hiding in our computers, televisions, and the conveniences of home delivery services. We’re learning how to be a community again.

When I look back on all of this, I know that it was scary. There were a lot of tears, and a lot of heartache. We won’t ever forget this, but maybe we’ll be okay.