"Where were you when the Challenger disaster occurred?" (I was in elementary school in a small private school; and for our PE class that day, we went to the bowling alley where there were TVs that replayed the news coverage over and over and over, and we watched that explosion dozens of times, it seemed.)
"Where were you on 9/11?" (I was asleep in our apartment in Imperial Beach, California, it only being about 6:30 in the morning; a phone call from my sister-in-law Kim woke Jeff and I up, and we turned on the TV and watched, bewildered and horrified with the rest of the nation, as events unfolded and we tried to comprehend what we were seeing.)
"Where were you when...?" This is the question we ask each other about these landmark events.
We're living one of these landmark events right now.
I am absolutely sure that in years to come, we will ask each other, "Where were you when the coronavirus hit?" Or, if we're more scientifically accurate, "...when COVID-19 struck?" Because as we now know, but didn't a month or two ago, there are any number of coronaviruses. But there is only one COVID-19.
I've been feeling the urge to return to blogging--at least, occasional blogging--for quite some time, but haven't made it a priority. Obviously. ;-) However, with such a watershed moment in the history of the world occurring now, and with more-than-usual time to sit at a computer and type, the timing is right, and I will strive to capture my personal experience of these historic times.
So, how did it all begin?
I don't remember when I first heard about the new virus which had been discovered in China--probably around the time that friends on Facebook started sharing posts about Dr. Li Wenliang, the Chinese doctor who had reportedly been the first to sound the alarm about the novel coronavirus and who had then caught it himself and died on February 7. I was saddened to hear about the outbreak and concerned for the people of China who were affected by it, but it seemed far away, and life here went on as normal.
Days, weeks went by. As we began to hear more and more about this topic--including the official name COVID-19 that was chosen for it--my thoughts and emotions swung wildly from, "The media sure is blowing this out of proportion; I mean, the regular old flu kills more people every year than this does!" to "This is terrifying! I am absolutely in disbelief at what is happening in China, and in Iran, and in Italy, and in..." Back and forth I went in this pendulum that probably the vast majority of Americans were swinging on with me.
I began to pay more attention to the news. We started discussing it more often over the dinner table. I found my jaw regularly dropping to the floor as actions that were previously unimaginable--utterly so--were now actually happening. To mention just one example, the thought of the entire nation of Italy shutting down and essentially everyone being quarantined was absolutely mind-blowing. When had such a thing ever occurred before? The global scope of the disease and the shocking implications were hard to comprehend. Was this really happening? Was it a dream? A movie? A gross exaggeration by the media? Could it all be true? My mind raced.
However, it wasn't until the night of Tuesday, March 10, that things began to get personal.
Jeff came home from work that evening, having cut the hair of a high-ranking military officer whose area of expertise is disaster management; and their conversation had convinced Jeff that the drastic actions being taken by certain regions of China, and by Italy, and by other countries were actually very likely to, at some point, happen in the U.S. To hear that what was totally unheard of and unbelievable was probably heading our way shifted something in my brain. I finally woke up and got it.
The next day, Jeff and I went out for breakfast with our good friends, LuJack and Cathi; and not surprisingly, COVID-19 was one topic of our conversation; we tried to talk about future events, but things were changing so quickly, it was hard to plan. From there, Jeff and I went to a couple of thrift stores, shopping for a dress for a special women's event our church was hosting on Saturday, March 14. Then that evening, I picked up my friend Uloma, and we went to our women's midweek service where we made final preparations for Women's Day. When I took Uloma home, and we said goodbye after we talked for quite a while, I had no idea that would be the last in-person social visit I would get to have for...well, for who knows how long?
The next day, a significant shift occurred. It felt like we woke up in a new world. Will we ever get the old one back again?
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