What one moment will always stay with you from this?

[Ostryga]

Mine was realising panic shopping was everywhere, and that I needed to buy an entire food shop for Dd and I before lockdown.

I cried when I found a shop with chicken and milk.

The fear I felt of the virus at that time, and also not being able to make sure we had food is something I hope to never repeat.

[quote rottd]@RedToothBrush but why does prepping 6 months before covid make you more prepared for it? How much stock did you actually have? My fil was in a care home, my mum on shielded list. The whole craziness of lockdown, homeschooling, Im a key worker, not seeing family, not attending funerals wouldn't have been eased by me having more dry goods.
[/quote]
I prepped for Brexit food shortages. Having that going into March was just one less thing to be worried about. Even my partner, who called my prepped stuff my 'crazy pile', was super grateful for it. It was more than dried goods - lots of freezer things and deliveries direct from farms all set up etc.

@ItallwentwrongwhenBowieleft

Speaking to my Stepdad for the last time on the phone, he was in hospital with Covid & very confused. The day after we were told there was no hope. We spent the next week waiting for ‘the call’ to say he was gone. None of us could be with him, he could no longer speak on the phone, we relied on nurses to tell us how he was doing, having to trust he was being well looked after & was comfortable. They promised us they made sure he wasn’t alone when he died but we’ll never really know. It is the most cruel way to lose a much loved family member & makes it so much harder to come to terms with. Only 6 people could go to the funeral and my poor DM was too high risk to go. The hearse went to my mum’s house on the way to the crematorium so my mum could say goodbye. Loads of family & friends lined to road to see him off, all maintaining 2m distance. My mum was now so terrified of catching Covid she wouldn’t let any of us near or hug her. Watching my mum standing alone saying goodbye through the window of a hearse and calling ‘Goodbye Darling’ as he left was one of the saddest things I’ve ever seen.

Goodness me, your post has made me burst into tears. I'm so very sorry for your loss. What a terrible experience for you all and so devastating for your poor mum.

Schools closing and explaining to my children that this was absolutely unprecedented, that schools had stayed open throughout the Second World War but now they were closing. Dc were blasé about it until a few weeks in when they realised how boring life was with no friends!

Also, in the country that my dh comes from, where most of his family live, hearing the news that they brought in a curfew with a shoot on sight policy.

they brought in a curfew with a shoot on sight policy.

Holy crap. Where?

@rottd

and there certainly were people who revelled in the catastrophising.

There still are !

@RuleWithAWoodenFoot that's fine but like I said it wouldn't have made my lockdown experience any better, I don't even use flour!

Collecting my son’s books from his school knowing he wouldn’t be back to complete the year. I cried the whole way home in the car.

Watching my Granny’s funeral on YouTube. The most heartbreaking, grim experience ever..

My employer telling us that some of us would die.

Really interesting range of responses - I had several moments - feeling incredible stress and fear re my elderly father being ill on several occassions but not being able to rely on hospital admission unless he was critically ill, the withdrawal of many supports for the aged and infirm, not being able to celebrate my fathers birthday with him when he turned 93 as he was allowed no visitors for the whole week he was an inpatient. This was to be his last birthday. He died having returned home 2 months later.
Really to some it was an inconvenience to others a painful rearrangement of all we come to expect in terms of how we live, care and have relationships. I blame COVID for this, but think social and health care policy need to review how they managed some of these situations.

@feeling dizzy please always be strong for them even when you feel alone know that you are not ..you have them and they have you

@amatsip

The 13 year old who died from covid with no family present just nurses and doctors and his funeral where he was buried with no family, people helping wore hazmat. His family had covid too. Those pictures of him haunt me.

This is the main thing for me too - I remember his name was Ismail. And it made me even more furious when Dominic Cummings was caught out. How dare he be making things up as he goes along when people like Ismail and his family were going through the very worst.

I read an article online about people who'd been diagnosed with terminal illnesses before covid. They had bucket list plans, to travel, see family etc and it soon became clear that they wouldn't get to do any of it before they died. I know there has been so much sadness and unfairness but this has really stuck with me.

I remember the quiet. I walked the dog during one of the England Euro matches and there was no traffic, no pedestrians, no background hum of life. It was such a reminder of the early days of lockdown when everything stopped.

Going to the supermarket and queueing around the carpark just to get in. And coming out with hardly anything because the bizarre situation made my mind go blank.

@LouLou198

Finding out on the same day that 2 lovely ladies I had worked with had died from Covid. DH was working late. I put dc in front of the tv, fed them takeaway pizza and sobbed for hours.

@GCAcademic

My employer telling us that some of us would die.

WTF?!?

There were a few moments. Reading these responses it makes me just realise the enormity of what we have all been through. There will
always be life before and after covid won’t there?

My mil caught covid at Christmas and was ventilated. I took our little girl out for a walk and we sat down and I said we have to be strong for daddy because Nanna is poorly and she said “will she go to heaven?” (She’s 3!) I had to say “I don’t know darling.” We couldn’t visit, we couldn’t even get through to ICU, they never answered the phone we just rang and rang it was so awful not knowing what was happening to her. They told
us to prepare for the worst. FIL was seriously unwell at home with covid on his own, we talked about one of us going to care for him because he was so ill we thought he was going to be hospitalised too. Such a helpless feeling.

We knew they’d tried bringing MIL round several times but she was not responding well. One night we got through to the hospital and they said “she’s sitting up do you want to speak to her? She’s very confused.” We couldn’t believe it. We listened to her on speaker phone say “hello sweetie,” to DH. My DH hardly ever cries, we’ve been together nearly 15 years and genuinely have only seen him cry a handful of times. He is an only
Child and he had been very calm and stoic about both his parents being so unwell. When we hung up he burst out in to sobs, and said he never thought he’d hear her voice again. 💔 I’ll never forget that.

I was bloody angry at what Cummings did but what Hancock did was worse. There is NO WAY that affair started in May of this year. IMO its been going on a long time including in the run up to last Christmas when we were guilt tripped gaslighted and emotionally abused by Government and media into not seeing our families and the 19th Dec press conference when we were told we couldnt . If they think im spending money on gifts early just because of supply chain issues after what they pulled last year they can think again. Fool me once shame on you. Fool me twice shame on me.

The guy walking around Norfolk in a plague doctors mask and full 17th century costume. I think someone in London did it too.

@Iliketeaagain

Weirdly, my "moment" is just hitting me. I'm an HCP, and we have worked pretty normally all through covid (PPE in place, seeing majority of patients face to face). I haven't particularly worried about catching covid, although I have worried about the teams I manage.

I finally saw my family this weekend after a year of not being able to travel, and on the way home, I suddenly felt I couldn't do this anymore, I have another few days off before I go back to work and I cried on my way home wondering how on earth we (at work) are going to get through winter when we are already feeling what feels like winter pressures in August and wondering how I'm going to get through it and how on earth I'm going to lead my teams through the winter. I'm more scared of the coming months than I have been in the last 18 or so.

Thank you for everything you are doing and have done

Ignoring some of the petty point scoring on here

@titsintiers

Having to watch my Dad's funeral on Facebook watch will stay with me forever. I can deal with everything else in time but that has been so difficult.

So Sorry you went through this

My employer telling us that some of us would die.

We had quite a large team and the Friday before lockdown we shut the office and the manager said "let's all say goodbye now because chances are some of us will perish before our time as Boris said". At the time people were dropping like flies in the office from Covid and there was one or two in hospital.

to all who have lost someone from Covid and non Covid illnesses.

In the supermarket at 8 months pregnant last year. Minding my own business just picking up some shopping for me and my nan when a random lady started screaming at me. She thought I was selfish for shopping in my condition that my baby would most certainly catch COVID and die due to my risky behaviour.

Baby was born perfectly healthy a few weeks later, and 18 months in I still only know of one person who had COVID

Arranging a double funeral for my aunt and uncle who died of covid within a week of each other .

The doctor looking after me in a tent saying I had covid but wouldn't send me into hospital as he felt he would be signing my death warrant. He was sending home 28/30 people.

Talking to my tutor group the day they announced schools were closing. They cried. I cried. Then some people walked past in hazmat suits to clean areas of school where an infected person had been.

Holding my darlings Mums hand with full ppe on and plastic gloves while she died of Covid. She passed away the next day and I didn’t get to be with her