Living abroad with strong ties to New London and Connecticut during the pandemic has been one of the most difficult times of my life. Not being able to travel to the place I love to see my family, community and historic buildings has been difficult at best. It reminds me of not knowing what will happen and when we will all wake up from this horrible dream.
The pandemic has made me grateful for my and my family´s health and living in a place (Norway) where COVID levels are at global lows, as for the most part people are focused on those most at risk by following guidelines by the government health agency (CDC of Norway - FHI).
During the summer, my elderly mother who lives in SE Conn. was ill, not with COVID but other health problems. This left me sleepless for many nights, not knowing if I could even travel to get there to help and be supportive, or if she passed away how would I be able to attend, hopefully something I would not regret for the rest of my life.
I recently lost an old best friend from a long-term illness. Not being able to support the family in their time of grief was a horrible experience and, like with my ailing mother, left me hurting. However, I appreciated the fact that I and my immediate family are healthy and taking precautions to stay healthy.
Lifting the spirits of the family has always been around traveling, new experiences and being positive. During COVID times it has been difficult, but we look at it from the perspective that “hey we have our health and we can travel next year” looking for the positives and enjoying our time together.
We have avoided protests or large gatherings … just not the smartest thing right now for everyone’s sake.
The pandemic has changed our family income. My job, my company Visiple have been super busy as we sell video conferencing services … however my wife working in the health supplements industry lost her job just 3 days after shutdown, finally gaining new employment last week (8 months later).
I miss being able to safely travel and knowing that I can travel whenever I want. I miss being able to be near large groups of people, I miss being in New London, the landscape, the people, the historic buildings and my 200+ year old house. I hate the fact the everything is different and the amount of stress this has put on everyone everywhere.
However, I look forward to when things start to normalize and we can all be normal again.
Submitted by Evan on Oct 14, 2020
.jpg)
Comments