Lucy

Covid-History Item Type Metadata

Age

77

Date

8/27/2020

Location

West Pawlet, Vermont

When did the impact of COVID-19 first occur to you? How did your reaction to COVID-19 change between then and the first case in your town?

On Saturday, March 7th, 2020 I left my daughter's home in Silver Spring, Maryland and returned to my home in West Pawlet. Three days later on March 10 my daughter let me know that her school (she is a teacher) was closing due to the Covid 19 and that she was bringing children (4yo and 10yo) to my house here in Vermont. I returned to her house to her her pack and on Saturday March 13 we drove both cars with kids, clothes, and toys to Vermont. Two weeks later my sun, his wife, and their 4-year-old daughter arrived from their home in Northern Virginia.

How is your life different now than it was before the pandemic?

That put seven people -- plus my son's two mid-sized dogs -- into my two bedroom house: daughter and two boys in the small bedroom with bunk beds; son, daughter-in-law, and daughter in the larger bedroom; me on a bed on the sunporch. We arranged for my son to do the grocery shopping. I bought a second refrigerator, had the garage wired for electricity, and put the second fridge in the garage.

How are you feeling? What are you doing to relieve stress?

At first I simply acted as "hostess" as I would have normally done if my children and grandchildren had visited. But after three months, and getting depressed, I vowed to pursue my own interests and activities -- admittedly either strictly at home or via zoom.

What have you noticed has changed in your community since the outbreak? What has surprised you?

My brother, a farrier, who lives just across the road from me, continued his work. I thought he probably shouldn't, but he was adamant that animals had to be cared for which made him an essential worker. I saw a post of FrontPorchForum asking for masks for medical facilities in Rutland County and immediately began to use my years-long hoard of fabric to make masks. I made 15 for the West Pawlet Volunteer Fire Department and another 15 for the Wells Volunteer Fire Department. I made probably 100 for the Rutland Regional Medical Center. I used patterns and instructions I found on-line and eventually perfected masks that worked well. I received several letters of thanks from the RRMC and cards from ICU nurses signed by each! I have noticed, however, that excluding my brother's family I seldom see my neighbors. Even now few people wear masks around the neighborhood (this is very rural) but everyone maintains social distance.

Are you a business owner who has had to close? If you are still open, how have you had to adjust how your business operates?

es. I had had my house on AirBnB for three years which brought in about $10,000 annually. But with my family gathered to wait out the virus I had to take it off AirBnB.

Do you have children at home? How’s it going?

My daughter and daughter-in law both have children and both continued to work full time. My son-in-law was able to care for his daughter while his wife worked. But my daughter is a singe mom and had no one to help. She had to supervise her 5th-grader's classes and work assignments, as well as to 'invent' on-line appropriate classes for her 3-6-year old classroom of students and then videotape or Zoom them.

How are you using social media, the Internet, or digital platforms during the pandemic?

All professional work and school work is done on digital platforms and work always suffers because V-Tel wifi is very overloaded and often fails. Both my daughter and daughter-in-law applied for and landed new jobs during this time via Zoom. They're both pretty amazing women!

Did you have to postpone any major life events? (e.g. Graduation, wedding, major birthday) What did you do instead?

My maternal cousins have a family reunion in August every "even" year -- as we have had for the last 60 years. We cancelled it this year because of the virus. I would like to go to England next July/August to attend the wedding of my cousin's son. But as yet Americans are not permitted into the UK.

Do you have animals? Did you adopt a pet? How have they impacted your day?

My son's two dogs are well-trained and provide lots of diversion for all of us.

What positive things did you contribute to or notice take place?

It seemed many people made masks for the medical facilities and essential workers in the area. Fabric and elastic were shared around when needed.

Did you or someone you know contract COVID-19? What was it like?

I know of several people (husbands of women I know) who have died and several who have had the virus and survived.

What do you wish you knew before the pandemic began?

I wish I knew that Donald Trump was not the president of our country during this time. His failure of leadership has put the United States in a terrible position, caused untold deaths, heartache, and made our wonderful nation the laughing stock of the world. Never elect as U.S. president a narcissisticTV personality with a string of failed businesses who denigrates the educated, insists on loyalty over expertise, hides his tax records, and spouts divisive hate-filled messages.

What would you want future generations to know about the 2020 pandemic? How would you recommend they prepare for it?

Listen to the scientists! Ignore conspiracy theories.

How do you think this pandemic will change how we behave going forward? What will the “new normal” look like?

Predictions are merely simple speculation. . . but expensive college and university educations will alter higher education, more people will work from home so there will be lots of empty office buildings -- which might lower expensive city rents, there will be opportunity for a new generation of restaurant owners; perhaps more people will move to rural areas. Look out Vermont and Upstate New York!

Dublin Core

Title

Lucy

Subject

COVID-19 (Disease)

Publisher

Southern Adirondack Library System

Contributor

Southern Adirondack Library System

Rights

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Language

English

Type

Covid History

Identifier

11939174874

Coverage

Coronavirus Pandemic

Citation

“Lucy,” Leaving Our Fingerprints on History, accessed March 29, 2024, https://fingerprints.sals.edu/omeka/items/show/212.

Output Formats

Geolocation