Which specific moment from this will stay with you forever?

[RosieLemonade]

Positive or negative.

So awful to read of everyone’s losses and not being able to grieve properly on top. So sorry

Worst moment was being physically attacked while trying restock the pasta shelves in the supermarket.

Negative is not being able to regularly see my daughter, who is away at uni.

Positive has been learning that I do enjoy my own company.

Favourite moment was Christmas Day, me and my 3 sons were joined by video call with my mum and my daughter, as we all opened our presents.

Two things for me. One, having my rainbow baby in July. And two, losing my brother at 31 having not seen him for nearly a year due to covid, and him therefore dying having not met his niece. It breaks my heart that I was robbed of time with him, and him and my daughter due to covid.

Negatives - boris's first announcement. I felt panicked and went straight out for a walk. The roads being strangely quiet on my way to work. Not knowing when schools would reopen and I could go back to work. How strange all the covid rules were when I did return.
Positives - being able to take my daughter camping in July. Spending Christmas with a colleague. Booking Dunham massey in the summer. A neighbor telling me about church Gardens that I can use as I don't have a garden. Getting used to walking in the winter, something I would never have done before lockdown.

Walking past and admiring the dress sense of an older teenager who was 'dressed up' in smart casual clothes.

Long blonde hair in a leopard print hair tie, oversized white sweater, ankle length,denim style, jeggings, leopard print bag, cute leopard print ballet pumps and a leopard print face mask.

She had accessorised her face mask.

That made me pause.

I won't forget the day the country I live in (not UK) shut down. It happened very suddenly. I was teaching on the Thursday morning, everything as usual. On the Friday morning an email was sent out that all teaching was to stop immediately and all students had to leave immediately. Staff were given until the end of the working day to leave. What will stay with me is walking back to the car park through the empty campus, looking at the empty reading rooms and canteen, and not knowing what was coming and if we would ever be back there again.

Have tears in my eyes reading this thread.

Mine is the schools closing and picking DC up on that last day. I had tears in my eyes thanking his wonderful teacher who had done so much for him and wondering if he would ever be in her class again and if he would regress without her help.

Negative - Empty shelves and arrows on the floor in supermarkets, a women shouting they I shouldn’t have my kids with me.

Positive - buying a paddle board and spending the summer on the lake near my house teaching my kids how to swim and paddle board. Probably the best summer I’ve had.

Personally affecting us it was my DH losing his job.

In terms of the virus, it was discussing, right back at the start, with a colleague who is from N Italy about why the UK government were just doing absolutely nothing. And then exactly the same feeling about the Christmas virus mixing, just a horrible powerless feeling that the government were not minded to stop the deaths.

Flowers for all who have lost people or suffered illness .

Tears in my eyes reading everyone’s memories. Someone suggested this thread should be in classics - a great idea.

The worst for me was

1. A slow sinking realisation that my Y6 child would not go back to school (her school never reopened) and that all the fun end of primary trips, prom, performances and things she had been watching other do and looking forward to for the last 7 years of primary school were going to be snatched away. Thinking of how to break it to her.
2. The empty isles of the supermarkets. No milk, no bread, no meat, no canned or dry foods, no eggs, no loo roll, no cleaning products, no painkillers, no baby’s milk, no fruit or veg left even. Everybody grabbing anything that was left. Absolutely panic inducing as you didn’t know when it would stop.

When it was my 2 year olds birthday. I sang happy birthday and she blew out her candles (she was delighted) and my 4 year old just turned to me and said “Mammy, where is everyone?” With such a puzzled look on his face.

Walking home after working late on a Friday during the first lockdown. It was 8.30-9pm and I only saw two other people in the city centre; usually it would have been heaving at the time on a Friday. It was really eerie.

At the beginning (sort of) at Boris Johnson's press conference where he said "many families will lose loved ones before their time." I remember it perfectly; my OH and I sat in the sitting room watching, and at the moment Boris said that I remember OH and I turning to each other, saying nothing but our faces saying a thousand words I'm sure. I also remember, when they opened up to journalists who were there to ask questions, I remember it felt like the tone changed totally and you could almost hear a pin drop. I think those journalists must have been shocked by his words too.

When the Queen made her televised speech, ending with "We will meet again". Not an ardent monarchist by any means but I really needed to hear that. Also made me feel incredibly emotional.

When Boris Johnson was admitted to intensive care. Not a Boris fan at all but my god I remember feeling an absolute sense of terror. A broadsheet journalist summed up the feeling very well - it was like your dad being taken seriously ill, albeit your deadbeat dad.

When Sunak appeared at his first press conference to roll out his financial measures. I remember feeling a real sense of reassurance and I also remember feeling strongly that he was far more statesmanlike than Boris.

Gosh...typing all this really is bringing it all back.

Worst - initial lockdown with bare shelves and the seriousness hitting people, the death and hospital tallies, watching people in real life or on SM breaking the rules and putting others at risk and a haunting quote from the first lockdown about schools and staff. The sheer selfishness has astounded me.

Positives - PILs getting the vaccine, education continuing remote so the children could continue to access their studies, Amazon and it’s amazing delivery and product service and the army of nhs volunteers.

A couple of moments for me. In the first wave before masks were required, and Tesco did the first dedicated NHS workers shop on a Sunday morning. It was absolutely RAMMED, and I remember me and a couple of other people in the giant checkout queues saying that there was more danger of us catching Covid in there than at work - lo and behold a week later I had caught it.

In the second wave, and only a couple of weeks ago. I was at work - I run the medical examiner service in the hospital and one of my tasks is to call the bereaved of everyone who has died to talk through the death certificate and ask if they have any concerns about their loved ones care. I came in to work and there were about 25 sets of notes waiting for me, all had died of Covid. I called each person and the stories I heard were completely heartbreaking - one woman had lost both her parents in the same week, one had lost her mum in the new year and both her brothers two weeks later.

At lunchtime that day the ward upstairs called to say that my grandad was now on end of life care so I could come and visit him. I PPEd up, and went up to the Covid ward, where I managed to spend half an hour with him. He died of Covid the next day. I felt broken that day and still haven't really got over it.

New Year’s Eve - positive spending it playing games with my children and acting like life was normal.
Worst about a month into lockdown I wrote letters to my children and partner in case I died. I don’t dare move them incase I still do

Bad times
The announcement of the first lockdown which meant kids couldn’t go to school & the immediate closure if my business. I cried and drank wine.
My neighbour who is a senior doctor saying if less than 10,000 people die we will be pleased and me in shock thinking he must mean 10,000 people in the world. How naive of me.
My anxiety taking over last October and having to ask for help with my mental health and seeing my daughter cry as she was worried about me.
Mum turning up on my doorstep crying just asking for a hug.
Worry about the kids returning to school in sept.
Going to my local town for the first time after lockdown and crying. It was so eerie.

Good times
Amazing friends to see me through. Lots of fun last summer meeting them for drinks in local parks
Supportive husband
Spending more times with the kids & finding new places in our local area to explore
Getting a dog
The announcement of the vaccine

I realise it looks like I’ve had more bad times than good but I’m lucky that our family have stayed safe so I’ll take that.

Children stuck at home, and the toys and children's clothes aisles taped off since this stupid non-essential rubbish came about. It breaks my heart everytime I walk by the toys, and I see them behind the tape. I mean, why?

Positive, the community feeling on helping each other in crisis. I remember someone phoning at work to make sure someone who had to isolated had food.

Holding my baby niece after a significant proportion of her life with only her mum and dad holding her. Then having a cuddle at the same time with her older sister who was 3. So holding / cuddling them both. I really drank that moment in and made a conscious effort to remember it. God I miss them.

Going to the supermarket after work (work in a school) just before the first lockdown and the shelves being bare of fresh meat, fresh veg, everything really. I bought a pie and some extra fancy new potatoes as they were the only things left. I cried. I couldn’t get to the shops in the morning, they didn’t open until 8 and I start work at 8.

Within a few days the shops were restocked and it never seemed so bad again.

My youngest was on a gap year which he'd saved hard for. He was in India and went into lockdown. I felt so scared for him. Food was short and the police were hostile. He got repatriated eventually and I won't forget travelling to the deserted airport to collect him and knowing I shouldn't hug him.

Row upon row of empty shelves at Tesco. Driving along a near deserted M25 to take my daughter to hospital.

Taking 20yo DD into A&E in great pain and being told they didn't want to admit her overnight as 'the hospital isn't safe'.

Bad: a parent coming past me as I was on the gate at school, on Wednesday saying that Boris was closing the schools on Friday and it would be September before we'd open.

On the Friday, a parent saying ' see you on the other side- let's hope we're all back together' and looking over the empty playground hoping we would all be back.

Ringing my HoD to tell her that she would have to go to hospital as her oxygen levels were so low ( my paramedic DP had dropped off a pulsoxometer to her) and her bursting into tears.

Good: Going to Wales with my HoD for a 3 day holiday.
The lovely long hot summer and my DD being so happy to have a pre-Halloween/Birthday party with 4 friends. ( during rule of 6).