This time last year

[dudsville]

This time last year I was still in denial. I simply couldn't understand what was coming. I thought people were overreacting with talk of the possibility of a "lock down". I honestly thought my colleagues were being ott with the handwashing and antibacterial stuff. I thought there was no way I wouldn't get to make the trip we had planned at the end of March.

By the beginning of March, I was still in denial but things were starting to close down, traffic eased, streets were quieter. Mid March I got sent home from work because of a Corona scare re someone I had spent the weekend with. I didn't know what to do. Had to get food so I picked up potatoes, a chicken, a bottle of wine and cigarettes (I gave up smoking when I ran out!). I got home and freaked out. Then the 1st lockdown started a week later. We'd been quarentining so had to learn how to get food. I read dystopian novels and watched the films. Lost the plot a little, remained baffled and confused for months. Several friends have lost parents to covid. When my mum contracted it we sat quietly for a couple of weeks, waiting, she sailed through it!

I haven't been back to work since buying that chicken. I'm scheduled to return soon. Today's news is such a relief. Hard to imagine now how clueless I was about it all just a year ago.

I just wanted to write that out.

This time last year I was preparing for my daughters third birthday in a couple of weeks and about to start my new job. Her birthday party went ahead. Then a few days later we were in lockdown. I was in the office for two and a half weeks and have worked from home ever since.
My Dad was poorly in hospital and had been there since end of January after contracting a mystery respiratory illness that the doctors couldn't work out what it was He had to be admitted again a few months later but thankfully recovered, he still suffers with it now. The doctors still deny it could be covid, even though it matches every marker for it.

I remember reading about case one in China... then watched as the papers reported 5, 10, 20, 60, 300 etc... I knew it was going to be bad from day one and mentally started preparing for schools to close before uk even had its first case. My partner wouldn't hear it. He thought it would all be fine and we'd be going on our holiday in March and that I was over reacting and the media were over reacting.. the borders closed to the USA the day before our holiday in March and I hadn't even bothered packing because I knew it was a dead loss back in January

@ChocOrange1

I'm not sure i was even aware of coronavirus at this time last year. Maybe I had heard it mentioned a few times on the news. Looking through my phone pics, in Feb Half term last year I took my daughter to the farm park, to peppa pig World and out to a cafe with friends. She had a birthday party on the 29th Feb and nobody was doing extra hand washing etc then. Glad we got some fun stuff in before lockdown.

We also did a birthday party on 29the Feb. Needless to say, very different this year!

I had a holiday to Asia booked for the summer so was following it closely and initially kicking myself I'ld booked Asia and not Europe. But then I saw it spreading in Italy and I was very worried for my daughter's Italy school ski trip planned for June and the 60 year old teacher with heart problems who was planning on taking them. I messaged the school and they basically replied like I was a lunatic for being concerned and said they would be going ahead. Obviously got cancelled in the end but crazy all those half term Italy school ski trips went ahead.

DH also went to see his Mum in France, I was worried it would shut down when he was there but its the last time he's been able to see her so glad he went. She's very elderly and now he's only allowed to go if she dies.

We spend February preparing to lockdown and we locked down our household on February 24th. My boss had closed the office the previous day.

But I wasn't too worried. I assumed the pandemic preparedness plan had been activated behind the scenes and it wouldn't be as bad here as in Italy.

Especially as we'd been able to see it coming for months.

How wrong I was.

135,613 covid deaths later...So far.

DH works for a Chinese company and his boss is from Wuhan, so we had been prepared for a number of weeks by now.

We did two big food shops at the end of Jan & DH was doing food drop offs for a number of Chinese colleagues who were self isolating for a month after returning from China after Chinese New Year. This was self imposed by his company.

I made excuses to wfh for most of Jan and all of Feb, and had prepared a H&S share for colleagues based on the info coming out from DH’s colleagues, and got laughed at!

Luckily my parents both listened, especially my dad who is CV. I think having that info from DH’s colleagues allowed us to physically and mentally prepare far ahead of time. The only worry was that we weren’t locking down early enough.

On a personal note, I wasn’t yet pregnant this time last year & now typing this one handed feeding 8 week old DC!

Yes, I was staggeringly naive this time last year. I had no idea what was ahead. I'm a big hand washer anyway normally, so I did that to a crazy extent; but otherwise dismissed Covid as a passing slight! How wrong could we all have been!

DH also had one of his team who had gone over for Chinese New Year to see their parents in Wuhan and stuck there, trying to wfh but very controlled internet so not really possible and she was very scared to communicate anything much as everything was being monitored.

This time last year I’d just found out I was pregnant (a few days prior), my husband and I went to Krakow a week after finding out and upon landing, as well as getting the usual “Welcome to Poland” text, we also got one about Covid. Everything seemed fine when we were there but Auschwitz closed a few days after we got back & everything else followed from there. I went to my last football match on March 7th & joked we’d probably get a bit of a break from going for a few weeks.
March 17th we got the email to leave the office ‘immediately’ and work from home until told otherwise, we all expected it to last a few weeks, maybe a couple months. I’ve only been in the office once since then & that was to return my desk chair before I went on maternity leave. Office staff still haven’t been back in up to now.

This time last year my ds was just coming home from his school ski trip. They didn't return home early although The pandemic wasn't widespread by then but I remember there was a massive 10hr delay at Dover due to all the coaches travelling back en masse/weather. The teacher commented to the children "Good job we didn't go to Italy" because it was still seen as fairly contained at that point. My poor dh had his 50th birthday a week into lockdown. We made the best of it but his family meal was cancelled.

We'd planned to visit our DD 600 miles away at uni and deliberately planned our train times around rush hour. She ended up being ill and had an operation the day before our return, so I stayed on. No room in accommodation, so had to move to a grotty place and then ended up on a rush hour train crossing the whole country, with lots coughing. I can actually remember sat there with my scarf stuffed under my nose. I

We live very close to Cheltenham racecourse and you can't avoid the racegoers in the streets, pubs, supermarkets, so that's another thing that just feel so surreal now.

Oh yes, and me and mum went to a theatre performance a couple of weeks before and I commented vaguely on all the people there who could be affected by covid. Wasn't worried though. Didn't think anymore it it, got in a crowded lift, sat close to strangers in theatre seats. No masks or sd. I do remember everyone in the toilets were washing their hands for far longer than usual. We saw one box office assistant wearing gloves and thought that was a bit ott at the time...Ds and I went to comic con as normal a week before full Lockdown. Comic con is always packed and 2020 was no exception. The only difference to usual was some American guests had cancelled travel. I have always, always carried hand sanatiser wherever I go and it's ideal for events like Cc. I remember encouraging my son to use it more often. We ate takeaway there though and mixed freely touching everything!

I remember a mum on here writing a letter to her 5 year old about having to miss school and how sad it was. She was torn to pieces for being over the top but my children are the same age and I got what she meant.
She was right in the end as well.

I was living with an abusive bastard and my children.
We fled in June
Now I'm living my with children and bonking my support bubble
Biggest year of mine and many others lives

I'm almost ashamed to admit I was another one of the blaze ones. I was telling people it was just like the flu and the press were over reacting.
I'd just recently gone back to trying Online dating. Had started speaking to a guy and to be honest was too focused on that to really pay too much attention! The week before lockdown I'd been out for a meal for my brothers birthday - and later that week met the guy I'd been speaking to. 1 year on we've got through not being able to see each other for months - and then later in 2020 we formed a bubble and we're now a proper couple. Couldn't be happier with that.

Covid has been a nightmare for all - but personally I'll remember March 2020 also for meeting my now BF :D

It's surreal looking back in my phone calendar to a year ago - there's so much in it! Two exercise classes per week, running group, hair, eye, dental and other medical appointments, a mums' night out, meeting a friend for a drink on a Friday night at our local pub, kids birthday parties, rugby club on Sunday, meeting my dad for lunch at half-term (the last time I hugged and kissed him ). It makes me quite emotional to look at what 'real life' is like.

I remember first hearing about the coronavirus on the news in early Jan and then watching with bemused fascination as Wuhan was locked down and thinking 'Blimey, I'm so glad that could never happen here! Can you imagine being basically locked in your house like that, only allowed out to grocery shop?' Oh, how naive I was, but it all felt really far away and like it wouldn't affect us in Europe - like SARS and MERS and Avian flu - all largely problems for other parts of the world - not here.

And then around Feb half-term stories started coming out of Italy and that's when I went 'Oh shit', because let's face it, Italy is a damn sight closer than China and it was ski season and loads of Brits were skiing in northern Italy ....

Right up until we locked down though I was in total denial that it could happen here. I hadn't stocked up, we hadn't ordered face masks or bought hand gel or anything. I remember I was driving to pick up DS1 from school when I heard Boris announce that the schools would be closing on Friday and I burst into tears. It still makes me feel emotional a year on.

I had my last day in the office a year ago. I had to go in to have a supplier meeting. When he arrived he went to shake hands and I said "Do you mind if we don't?" Obviously he thought I was a bit mad.
I went home after the meeting and have WFH since.

my dad had just died (not covid related) so i wasn't really thinking about the virus. nearly 4 weeks later it was his funeral and i was hoping that some people would come. most did but a few chose to stay away because of the virus, perfectly understandable.

i'm glad he didn't have to cope with the whole lockdown and covid thing.

I was starting to get worried and began stocking up a little (the preppers thread was helpful). I pondered whether going to the gym was a good idea.

Something I remembered this morning is that DH and I both rushed to get cash out thinking we would need it.

Then didn't spend it for 6 months because everywhere went contactless.

We were booking a holiday of a lifetime for the summer - India - Ladakh, Rajasthan, Kerala...

I suggested we wait 10 days before booking to see what this thing in China was all about. I didn't even take myself seriously and was half joking but my partner listened and we didn't book.

I also bought a 1 litre bottle of hand gel.

So two things I got right!

Just over a year ago I went into work...my friend had just come from, I think, Spain, who had a lot of cases. My husband had a headache and as it was just after isolating came in, he phoned his boss up and had to stay at home. I still went in as families didn't have to isolate too then.

I said goodbye to them and see you tomorrow. On my way home it was announced that households of people isolating also had to self isolate. In a panic I ran to Tescos and filled up my trolley with enough food to see us through. By the time I was due back it had been decided we would work from home. Four weeks later we were furloughed and two months after that the whole team made redundant. I never saw all of my workmates again after telling them I would see them tomorrow.

One year on have sold our house and moved the whole family in with my parents, and moved schools. Got a new job. Havent seen our best friends in over a year and I've only seen sister twice. It's hard to believe what has happened and thinking how naive we were, looking back from photos from a year ago, with no idea what was ahead of us.

This time last year was my first week on maternity leave. I'd just done NCT and wasn't thinking about anything except how tired I was of being pregnant and how I was expecting the baby to be born at any minute cos most babies in my family come early (jokes on me, I ended up being induced 7 weeks later at 41+6....)

I went away to a relative's holiday cottage for a few days by myself, walked on the beach etc... the following week I was back in London shopping, going for coffees & to the cinema with a friend... thinking people were getting a bit paranoid about this coronavirus thing, sure it wouldn't be a big deal here and this government would never call for a lockdown anyway... the week after that was lockdown

This time last year was my last time on a plane. I was visiting my 2 adult children in London- DD was nominated for some dance awards so we were at a glitzy ceremony in the Barbican. DS was working backstage on a west end show so I got to see that. And met up with my best friend to eat lots of cheese off a sushi belt thing in 7 dials. And cocktails. And Thai food. And managed a tourist parkrun.

This time last year I believed everything on the news