I remember hearing the news warn against shaking hands and getting too close to an individual. Not shaking hands, that was the first step in stripping away the norm. On that same day rumors of the city shutting down seemed to be true. It was my last day at my current job at that time, coincidently. 

The early days of the lockdown seemed promising that it wasn’t going to be too long; how can the city shut down for a long period of time? At least that is what I thought, so I had hope, excited to start a new job, in a good place, until the realization that this wasn’t going to end quickly, and that job was never going to start.

My kids were in other states, my daughter in her graduate year, so distance never felt so far. My daughter graduated virtually with her masters but was trapped in Texas. Lots of phone calls, she persisted and found a job. I was inspired by her fortitude. It gave me hope to keep trying and not let it get me down that I had no job, and not a lot of hope to be hired in that climate.

I learned a lot, I discovered my emotions, I read, got a kitten, I changed my exercise routine (which has stuck to this day). I found change in the end, change that as I look back, I appreciate every day. I wouldn’t want to do it again, but I do not think I would be where I am today if the lockdown did not happen.