Looking Back: April 2020

Time to take a look back at the month of April, our first (and maybe hopefully pretty please) last full month of complete social distancing.

What did I learn? How to sew face masks. Certainly something I never thought I’d be doing but I’m grateful for sewing skills and lots of fun fabric from my quilting days and the ability to provide these for my family and close friends. Masks become mandatory in Massachusetts tomorrow.

What was my greatest accomplishment?  I don’t know that I accomplished all that much but I managed to set up a successful work-at-home routine. And I didn’t cry every day. I’m tempted to just say that my greatest accomplishment was survival.

Where did I go? I went to work where I was pretty much by myself. I went to the grocery store twice. And Dale and I went for drives every Sunday.

Who did I spend time with? And what did we do? Dale, Dale, and more Dale. We try to give each other space during the day but I’d be lying if I didn’t say I miss my alone time. We have established a pretty good routine, though, and I look forward to the moment when we gather each day and have a cocktail and chat about all sorts of things.

What brought me joy? That daily martini. Hahaha! But also improving my sourdough bread baking skills and FaceTiming with Jackie. Also all those flowers!

What do I want to remember? All of it. The tears of sadness and frustration and loneliness. The happiness I felt when we listened to music and played games. The car picnics. The friends who help us avoid the grocery store by dropping off milk and other things we occasionally need. The meetings on Zoom. The disappointment I felt as event after event, gathering after gathering, got rescheduled or cancelled. The resilience of my spirit. The feeling of connection when I reach out and remember we’re all in this together.

It wasn’t an easy month but we made it.

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This Post Has 14 Comments

  1. That really is a lovely, honest look-back Carole! And your pictures almost make me want sour dough bread – lol.

  2. Those cocktails are the thing that keeps me from total madness (or maybe I am there and the cocktails help me not care!) I am so in awe of your baking!

  3. All that delicious-looking bread! I do hope May goes as quickly as April seemed to and our isolated days at home are safely waning.

  4. April was sad and lonely . . . but it did seem to pass pretty quickly. (Surprisingly so, after March. . . ) I’m afraid our socially-isolating days are not going to end soon, but maybe we’ll figure out some ways to safely loosen things up? I’m hoping so! Here’s to a lovely May — full of good things again. XO

  5. We pretend we’re on “airport time” and have a cocktail whenever we want!! Ha. Not very often, but man… whatever it takes to survive (with a little fun & variety now & then).

    I’ve been back to work for a little over a week and I can’t say that I’m thrilled… it also feels a little like I’m in a bubble and I walk out into a Twilight Zone world at the end of each day.

  7. I so admire your resilience, Carole, and the way you embrace the good and the bad. It looks like you and Dale also ate really well throughout the month, which meant that you were taking care of yourselves and enjoying some small pleasures. I’ve said often in recent years that I was interested in learning to sew (eventually in order to sew my own clothing), and never in a million years did I dream that I’d get the confidence to move forward from sewing facemasks.

  8. I get hit about every 10 days with the tears. I can’t imagine how empty that library must feel. I hope we can be together apart more as the temps warm up and we can get outside. And I can’t deny…there’s been a bit more drinking here too!

  9. I love your pictures – what a month!

    I’m with you on the drinking. I am NOT a drinker – I barely drink once a year. But we’ve definitely had some “relaxing” weekends over the last month thanks to some Stella Artois that I’ve had in the basement for at least three years. Expired – but taste fine!

    (Being alone in a library is a fantasy of mine, but I can definitely see why it wasn’t so wonderful for you. But just know that I squeaked a little bit when I read that sentence and then held it back in solidarity for the difficulty it presented you.)

  11. Re: Dale. Having the right roommate is key to surviving this with one’s mental health intact. Sounds like you got one! (No surprise there.)

  12. We are all here, together and apart. Never have I felt like was like Groundhog Day as much as it has the last month. I have TOO much alone time and miss my friends SO MUCH. I understand your grieving. We are all right there with you.

  13. Indeed it wasn’t and I’m REALLY hoping that by the end of May fewer events are cancelled and I’ll have a chance to see friends and family in real life vs from a computer screen.

  14. Again, Carole, you’re inspiring me to Just Do It for my own lookback. I really appreciate your honest assessment, ALL those blooms and the bread, and the realization that as much as it sucked, I still want to remember all of it. (we doubled our bubble yesterday and hope we can start having the boys a couple days a week … Katie & Rob really need the help. and we really need the contact … more to come!)

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