A Look Back On An Incredible Year

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Abstract

ross the table and took both hands in his as a warm gesture to wrap things up. This stands out in my memory as my last casual contact with someone I didn’t live with, as well as the last time I ate indoors at a restaurant without concern.A week later I boarded a plane for San Francisco. We weren’t wearing masks yet. I did buy a small bottle of hand sanitizer at the airport just to be safe. My boyfriend was worried about me going on this trip because of things he had heard in the news about the virus. My sense of denial served to give me a sense of safety.I stayed at my brother’s house along with three of his friends who had traveled from Brazil to see the city. It was like a week long party of strangers.In that short week things were starting to change on a national level. I remember feeling creeped out on the flight home when the young woman in the seat next to me asked me to move my things so she could wipe her seat and surroundings with disinfectant.The low hum of dire warnings to the public gradually grew louder as people were dying from the virus at an alarming rate. It was the end of February, 2020.We were advised to stay home, wash our hands, and not gather with people we did not live with. I had one

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persistent boyfriend who claimed “he wasn’t that worried about it” and wanted me to come over and hang out.I remember that guy sent me a short, homemade pornographic video clip to entice me to come over. It was March 12th. When my gay brother watched it, he commented “I would do him…in two weeks.”There was an early expectation we could slow the spread of the virus that was spreading like wildfire if we all stayed home for 2 weeks, hence my brother’s comment.On Friday, March 13th, everything became very real when I drove over the Dingman’s Choice Bridge to cross the Delaware River into Pennsylvania and for the first time in over 20 years I had been making the trip to the cabin, there was no one at the toll booth collecting tolls. It was eerie.President Trump had finally declared a National State of Emergency and ordered states to consider lockdowns to stop the spread of the virus. It was the closing of the toll booth that stood out for me as the beginning of something serious going on in the world.<a href="https://readmedium.com/what-comes-to-mind-when-you-think-about-the-pandemic-anniversary-49c35d6b25d8">what-comes-to-mind-when-you-think-about-the-pandemic-anniversary-49c35d6b25d8</a></article></body>

The Year That Changed Everything

Brian Asare for Unsplash

It is hard to know where to start. I guess it depends on when you felt the pandemic officially began. I remember having plans to travel to visit my brother and his friends toward the end of February, 2020.

I remember meeting a friend inside a restaurant on February 14th for lunch. We had heard quiet rumblings in the news about a new coronavirus that had surfaced in Washington State in January but there had not yet been any guidance issued by the federal government about it.

My friend reached across the table and took both hands in his as a warm gesture to wrap things up. This stands out in my memory as my last casual contact with someone I didn’t live with, as well as the last time I ate indoors at a restaurant without concern.

A week later I boarded a plane for San Francisco. We weren’t wearing masks yet. I did buy a small bottle of hand sanitizer at the airport just to be safe. My boyfriend was worried about me going on this trip because of things he had heard in the news about the virus. My sense of denial served to give me a sense of safety.

I stayed at my brother’s house along with three of his friends who had traveled from Brazil to see the city. It was like a week long party of strangers.

In that short week things were starting to change on a national level. I remember feeling creeped out on the flight home when the young woman in the seat next to me asked me to move my things so she could wipe her seat and surroundings with disinfectant.

The low hum of dire warnings to the public gradually grew louder as people were dying from the virus at an alarming rate. It was the end of February, 2020.

We were advised to stay home, wash our hands, and not gather with people we did not live with. I had one persistent boyfriend who claimed “he wasn’t that worried about it” and wanted me to come over and hang out.

I remember that guy sent me a short, homemade pornographic video clip to entice me to come over. It was March 12th. When my gay brother watched it, he commented “I would do him…in two weeks.”

There was an early expectation we could slow the spread of the virus that was spreading like wildfire if we all stayed home for 2 weeks, hence my brother’s comment.

On Friday, March 13th, everything became very real when I drove over the Dingman’s Choice Bridge to cross the Delaware River into Pennsylvania and for the first time in over 20 years I had been making the trip to the cabin, there was no one at the toll booth collecting tolls. It was eerie.

President Trump had finally declared a National State of Emergency and ordered states to consider lockdowns to stop the spread of the virus. It was the closing of the toll booth that stood out for me as the beginning of something serious going on in the world.