How The Pandemic Gave Me Back My Life

This Thanksgiving will find more empty places at the table. Some are absent because of illness or death, and others are unable to gather because of Covid restrictions. People are struggling to pay bills and buy food. Employment is a daily uncertainty for many as restrictions limit their ability to go to work. Thanksgiving 2020 finds us at a time when giving thanks may be a bit difficult.

One can't think about Thanksgiving this year without also thinking about the pandemic. The pandemic changed how we do things. From the start, many people found themselves cut off from friends, family, and social activities overnight. People were desperate to connect with one another, to have human interaction, especially with an uncertain future looming.

Isolation and loneliness were one of the earliest issues people faced. People found ways to connect and created alternatives to mimic social activities, after all, we are social beings.

Prior to the pandemic, millions of American's lived in social isolation resulting from health issues, aging, and lack of transportation. A fair number of Americans live alone. I am one of those people. For eight years I couldn't participate in activities I found enjoyable due to chronic pain and fatigue. Then a diagnosis of epilepsy at 41 meant I could no longer drive and with it, I lost my connection with the world at large.

I missed going to the theater, movies, and concerts. I didn't realize how much I missed such things until seven years after my diagnosis. At summer's end, I received the gift of an electric trike. Avengers: Endgame just came out and I headed off to the movie theater, 4 miles (6.44 km) away.

I locked my bike, purchased my ticket, popcorn, coke, and sat in my favorite spot. I looked around the theater. I t was a matinee so only a handful of people sat around me. The previews began as did a silent stream of tears. I was at the movies! For the first time in years, I took myself somewhere to do something I not only wanted to do but now could.

Afterward, I shared this story with others, and tears of joy flowed. Verbalizing the experience brought out the emotional pain of isolation and the joy of freedom I tried to keep hidden. I still tear up thinking about how amazing it felt to once again enjoy the independence to participate in such an ordinary activity.

With this new-found independence, I made plans for Summer 2020. I would be finally meet new people, make some friends, and do things I enjoyed. In March those plans, along with everyone else's, were upended. While the pandemic didn't change my circumstances, it did ruin my plans. In this, I wasn't alone.

Overnight, the world knew the pain so many of us lived with for years. The need to connect led to people finding innovative approaches to do so. Suddenly, my world opened back up. I joined a choir, group classes for music, pottery, writing, and three different weekly get-togethers with different cohorts. I made friends.

Prior to the pandemic, I lived in social isolation, alone, and lonely with low confidence. I lacked social support because my family lives out of state and no longer able to work or drive, friends drifted away. The pandemic gave me back my life.

It is my sincere hope that the connections' society has made during the pandemic continues after the rest of the world can return to their normal lives. I believe virtual connections will endure because people like me became visible and people understand the pain of isolation now.

Yes, this year it may be difficult to find reasons to be grateful. It would be quite easy to lament about the state of the world and become lost in that sea of darkness. But, I still believe in the human spirit and that nothing can dim humankind's hope for a better tomorrow.

We can find gratitude in the smallest action. Even when someone who experienced misfortune before then finds themselves in good times, we can feel happy for them. It is their story that touches upon our own in some way. We can find a measure of healing and gratitude from knowing another's story.