Now the COVID pandemic is gone, What are your worst, or best, memories?

[Alondra]

I was talking to my eldest son today and we somehow ended up talking about the worst moments we lived trough Covid. For me, the worst was living in Australia with DH and our two youngest, while he was in Madrid. I was beside myself with worry knowing we couldn't do anything. Zoom helped.....but only for a short while. I've never had as many sleepless nights as I had then.

For my eldest, being in a complete lockdown in a 60 square metre apartment without us or knowing what the future would be, was his worst. He did mention as a positive that he now knows most of his neighbours and is close friends with several, something it wouldn't have happened before lockdowns. :)

From the distance now, what are the things you won't forget, good or bad?

The best was the weather being so good, endless hot sunny dry days with long dog walks and bike rides. I had to carry on working (from home) but the workload reduced and work hours were flexible.

the worst was definitely the loss of freedom, not being able to meet friends, have a Starbucks, go to the gym. But logically I knew that was minor stuff. I was scared for Dd as she’s immuno compromised so was very glad when vaccines arrived and she was one of the first to get them.

I miss the peace and strange sense of "suspended animation". I was alone with a toddler most of the time and came up with all sorts of ways to keep her entertained. I would look for playgrounds far from where we live so we could at least spend some time in the car getting there. I had my favourite lockdown supermarkets and lockdown drugstores that were usually less busy or easily accessible by car. I get a pang of nostalgia driving past those spots again.

I became an expert in finding the best places to get discount toys so I could keep her entertained cheaply (most got donated or thrown out afterwards). Even now I still have the habit of heading straight for the toy clearance section but then realising I actually don't need to buy anything.

I also miss the convenience of all restaurants offering takeout. It was a highlight to pick up some food and many of our favourite places adapted their menus with great takeout friendly stuff. Also no worries about finishing portions as it was easy to keep the leftovers. Now it's back to the faff of booking tables, ordering, keeping a small child entertained while the food comes, eating everything at once etc.

The utter misery of trying to teach in freezing cold classroom in a Scottish winter with all the windows and doors wide open.
What angered me was that each school in our area seemed to have its own rules - not even county or country wide, so schoolbags would be banned in our school yet the other school in the town allowed them - made o sense whatever.

Scottish rules about drinking alcohol with meals.

My daughter had her 30th birthday during Covid. My abiding memory will be of sitting on the pavement drinking outside a pub in Aberdeen then going out at night to sit in an open sided gazebo in their local with furry blankets and hot water bottles.

Exactly. The one thing I thought might change was attitude to illness, but no, business back to usual.

Worst was that my mum had an op (not covid related) on 23 Dec 2019 and was in hospital for weeks; she got home and just as she would have possibly started going out to things again, lockdown happened and she couldn't.
We didn't know how long my mum would have so it was classed as end of life care so my sister, brother and I - and her sister - did see her - but our children couldn't as my Mum was too scared, and believing of the news, to see them as well.
It scared a lot of older people.
Joint worst was the completely pointless masks, couldn't belive how many people thought wearing a mask was a good idea, especially outside. It was like they lost all ability to think for themselves!
Also why did stupid thigs like golf clubs get opened before important things like childcare - whose daft idea was that?!
And I remember being REALLY annoyed that Italy was 'looking after' their citizens by giving them a free subscription to Pornhub (doubt the ladies thought that was 'looking after' them.)
Best was getting our garden sorted with a patio, wfh which I would never have been allowed to do previously and randomly winning a cash prize because a lot of competitions couldn't supply trips etc so gave cash alternatives - and I got a new chest freezer (ours had a broken lid and didn't work properly).
The weather was great too and some people kindly wrote the names of the trees in chalk on the ground so the kids and I learned a few more of them.

It’s not insensitive at all. It was a globally shared experience that people want to talk about and process.

We live 200 miles away from my darling in laws

We'd agreed we've test,and if negative,we'd go to theirs for Christmas

We where all packed,ready to go and Boris cancelled it

We where all for going anyway but in laws freaked out and we agreed we wouldn't go

Cue mad dash to tesco to buy food as we'd ran everything down and had nothing apart from half a loaf of bread and some yogurts

Spent the worst Christmas ever at home but agreed we'd have another once everything had been lifted (I still can't eat trifle as in the panic to buy food,I'd grabbed one-it was vile)

Then fil was taken ill-3 weeks in hospital and mil couldn't see him at all (they don't do any tech and zoom is beyond them)

He came out and all was good-we thought he was getting better

We where looking forward to seeing them,when we got the call to say 'get here now!he won't make the week!'

We packed,phoning both sets of work on the way,and shot down there to say our goodbyes-we where bloody lucky we could say goodbye (my friend lost her stepfather and couldn't say goodbye nor go to his funeral as there was a limit of 5 and she was no 6)

He died 10 days later,his funeral was a month later-we where walking round in a fog-nothing touched us,we couldn't take anything in

Then it was revealed that bloody Boris and his mates had been partying

We where going up and down the m25 while that cunt had cancelled Christmas we'd lost our last Christmas together and almost didn't say goodbye to a very special man

I'm still angry about that

And still pissed that our shitty neighbour rang the police to tell them that my ds had come round and was staying with us,going out at all hours and we'd been out twice in one week

She was right-he was a key worker and had permission from his bosses (saved the police some money-he had to travel for them and thats why he kept gping out) and we'd tested everyday

We'd also been and done our food shop-we went back twice in one week as the shops where bare the first time-her family where out,hanging about the streets and others homes at all hours for hours (but that didn't count)

Nosey cow

what does shielding look like for you now? It must be incredibly isolating.

Even the nhs tell medical staff to come into work with Covid.

I am lucky that I had a job that meant I had to leave the house and be with people though obviously that carried a high risk, no one I know died during lockdowns, none of us caught it until 2022, DC were able to go to school sometimes because of my key worker job.
The best bit was probably the weather in t spring 2020. DC1’s birthday is in April and we had a paddling pool out and a campfire in the evening.

DH died in autumn 2021 (not of COVID), so we were able to have as many people as we wanted at his funeral, but DC and I were with all his family the week before and one tested positive the next day. The waiting to see if any or all of us would get it and not be able to go to the funeral, pinning down my screaming DC2 to test her which was something that required 2 adults and I suddenly didn’t have another adult.

Best - I had a 7 month old and a just turned 4 year old at the start of the first lockdown, so no school work (at first) to contend with and I was on maternity leave. With hindsight, I’m grateful for their ages. Nice weather. Husband working at home. We had a garden and got to know our neighbours. The walks. Zoom pub quizzes.

Worst: The millions who passed away, often alone. Discharging untested elderly to care homes - wtf were they thinking. The government not following their own rules/guidance. Having 2 children and not seeing family or having that physical support. The boredom and the dread of having to think of 12 hours of entertainment everyday with no play parks open. The walks (yes, good and bad)
my children refused after going every day for 6 weeks. Cannot blame them. Even now, I hate going to the park. The fear.

HK: Worrying about getting put in the government quarantine centre as a close contact or being indefinitely detained for being an active case ( or that happening to my 9&10 years old dc). Also worrying about making that happen to other people I knew by virtue of them being a close contact of me. Awful cases of whole classes of kids getting sent to quarantine because teacher caught covid. Imagine being the teacher!!

I found the peace and quiet eerie and unsettling. I like the hustle and bustle of life and couldn't wait to hear it all again.

The first couple of weeks of lockdown 1 ( the 3 weeks to flatten the curve) was like a nice rest at home . A lot of people seemed to find this beneficial.

I enjoyed going for walks around our town and discovering new places to walk to . I find that a bit nostalgic, it's not the same to do it now.

The illness aspect was the worst part.

There is something not adding up here surely you would have qualified for a vaccine this winter? My DH did just by being on blood pressure meds…

Pros: Beautiful weather in lockdown first time. Lots of bbqs for me and dh. I was 15 weeks pregnant with my eldest at the start of April. We discovered beautiful woodland and walked for miles over our lunch break every day.

Worst memories: I saw no family during my pregnancy as we don't live nearby and I found it too difficult to travel to see them in my first trimester as I had such bad morning sickness I avoided going in the car as much as possible. Then the week after my 12 week scan, lockdown began! So that was rubbish.

It was really hard giving birth because although we were out of lockdown, restrictions were still in place for visiting. I nearly died during my emcs and I was very unwell for the few days after and couldn't move from bed. DH was allowed to visit for an hour per day even though a midwife said they had no capacity to care for someone with my very difficult medical post natal needs.

It took such a long time to get used to being around people again after and I feel like my dcs speech was impacted at an early stage from having no opportunity to go to groups and socialise with others.

Thinking back, one of the best things for me is that my dad didn’t give a shit.

He was 85. Him and two friends carried on as normal. He came to stay with us, him and his mates met up for film nights.

He called me in a rage one day as he’d had to go to the GP and they had warned him not to leave his home, to have shopping delivered, not to come and stay with us as his grandchildren might give him covid. It was to save his life, apparently.

His response was, “how long do you want me to live? I’m 85, I’ve had one foot in the grave for years.”

I am so glad, because in 2022, he suddenly descended into dementia. He died in January, a shell of a person, who had just stared into space for a year, in a care home.

To think everyone wanted him shut away for his “own good” in the last two healthy years of his life. He apparently tested positive for covid twice in the care home. Not a single symptom.

Another bad memory was a security guard of all people trying to force me to wear a mask when I was very far into labour and contracting every other minute through extreme pain on no pain relief. I ripped him a new one.

Worst was my 12 year old DS2 attempting suicide and not being allowed to be with him in hospital. And then my in-laws sneaking in to visit him when they weren't allowed and then going on about it. Recently DS2 had a meltdown in school. I couldn't get to him and it was just awful all over again.

Also homeschooling during, especially during 2021 was a nightmare. The 2 in secondary school were ok but the 3 in primary needed constant supervision to get anything done.

The best part was at the beginning of lockdown 1 when here was no schoolwork, no pressure and the weather was lovely. My dc spent aged in the garden playing pretend games together.

Peace and quiet and so much more wildlife where I live.

Not having to go into the office.

Worst.my mum dying alone in a hospital bed (4 years ago yesterday as it happens), and my dad dying just a few months later because his cancer wasn't picked up sooner....6 weeks from diagnosis to death.

I have no good memories.

My absolute godsend of a neighbour who in the thick of covid, maintained my garden to ensure my toddler had somewhere safe to play. He maintained the grass front and back, tidied toys away even fixed my dodgy fence. Anytime the garden was empty he would ponder between mine and his, sorting out what needed done. I was busy WFH and had a toddler, he could see I was juggling a bit of everything all at once and he took on what I coulda’t. He even took my bins out and brought them back in and has continued to do so. Yesterday I noticed he fixed my washing line. I’m a few days post partum with our second baby and he’s resumed to help where he can. He is incredibly thoughtful and I’m so grateful to have hit the jackpot with such a lovely neighbour.

My mum was like this. She was 91 in the first lockdown and getting her daily visits to the shops had always been crucial for her as it was often the only part of the day she spoke to people in person. She was not a tv watcher so needed actual human company. Had the same attitude as your dad that if covid got her then she'd had a good long life.

She died at the start of 2022 and I broke the "rule of 6" to visit her with my dd in summer of 2021. No regrets there for me.

@User2346 There is something not adding up here surely you would have qualified for a vaccine this winter? My DH did just by being on blood pressure meds…

Not adding up? Charming - do you think I'm making it up.? Don't be silly, as if.

I had the vaccine. As did one relative. It still killed him.

He died a horrible death, it is not one I want. I'm not afraid of dying but the manner of my death terrifies me.

If I don't go to work I don't get paid so if I have Covid and don't feel ill, am I really expected to stay at home and not eat just in case I pass it on to someone? You're damned if you do, damned if you don't.