The sudden and unexpected orders of community and business shutdowns brought about by COVID-19 have had tremendous effects on me, my family, and our small business during this time. Our passion for sports and children is expressed through East Coast Flames Allstarts, our competitive cheerleading and training facility that serves approximately 65 athletes and their families. We are open yearly for athletic training and team building, and travel through the months of December-May for competitions and performances across the state. We’ve been running this business, meeting and training new athletes and children of all ages for the last 20 years. This is the first time in our history that our season has ended so abruptly, and left us disconnected not only from our jobs, but from our extended family. We’ve gone from seeing one another daily, to now being a part for well over a month due to quarantine. The virus outbreak has changed our daily routines, our relationships with others, and most importantly the way we view our world. The love of cheerleading has played a major part of our lives for so many years, and now that we’ve gone without it for such a long time, we question how will physical connections recover when the virus is over? Our main priority during this time is safety, without a doubt, but will we get back to doing the things we truly love any time soon? On the other hand, I have been able to spend quality time and remain my health safely at home with my immediate family. I have stayed up to date with the updates from our officials and leaders, and have an extreme appreciation for those on the front lines to compat this pandemic. All in all, I have been doing my best to remain hopeful and uplifted that in doing my part of staying home, and encouraging those around me through our virtual link ups to do the same, I am confident that together we will all be able to overcome these uncertain and unfortunate times.
Vulnerable: --
Trusting in God and Being Wise
Coronavirus has restricted me from leaving the house. Its actually made me have to spend more money on grocery. We have to prep more food for the house. I am still working. I work in a job that involves entering homes. My supervisors are being more strict and cautious. We ask people how they are feeling sick wise before we go in. People can lie and I just have to rely on my best judgment. I always wash my hands, wear a mask, and not touch my face before going in. As soon as I get off I shower and wash my clothes to not affect my kids. My wife makes money by doing make up and she hasn’t been able to do that to get income on the side. My wife also has issues with her mouth and her dentist was working on fixing it but they won’t be able to until the virus is over as they said it is not an emergency.
Home-schooled
Do school from home for students is a bit different for some kids because they are used to being at school physically. Teachers contact their students through google meet or google zoom on the computers that they have at home or the school computers that their school has given them. The students get their assignments every week from every-single class. Some classes give a little bit of work and others give a lot of work. The students still have deadlines to turn in their assignments. Most classes have attendance, but they use different types of attendance, like interesting questions for you to answer or the just have you fill out an online sheet that asks you if you’re present.
The days that have shaken my life
The greatest impact is that it has kept my family away. I can’t see my grandchildren or hug them and that is the biggest disappointment ever. I have had several great friends pass away and I have underlined health issues so I can’t attend church or go to any funeral services. I really don’t want to go out or interact with other people. I already have breathing issues, so coronavirus would not be good for me. A lot of the essential things I need from the grocery stores are out. My friends can’t get them either. Such as Clorox, tissue, hand sanitizer, and lysol.
#onlinecampaigns
I was planning on voting but the campaign events for 2020 candidates have been halted. It could be months until there is a public event held because instead, the campaigns will be online from now on. This happening might mean the election is getting pushed back.
#storelimits
Many of the restaurants that I got to allow pick up and delivery which makes it convenient because we won’t have contact. Many stores end up getting so crowded that now many stores have limits on the number of people allowed in stores.
Essential work
I work at the bank and due to the virus i have to be very careful with handling money. Germs spread fast through money and I wouldnt want to take anything back to my home.
#shutdown
Many stores have recently shut down and there are still many things I need to get in order to be prepared throughout quarantine. When I do leave my home there aren’t really many people outside or in stores. The coronavirus has changed everything even how people shop. Now many people order things online and have them delivered a lot more due to this epidemic.
Peace through the Storm
So far my family has lost 3 members, for the most part everyone is staying safe as possible. Major change to work life.
Keeping Faith, Adapting and Balancing
The CORVID-19 pandemic has completely changed the route of my familys daily activities. In order to keep our family and community safe from the coronavirus, weve had to be receptive and adapt. Im a single working mom with three children (1, 5, and 8) and Im an MBA graduate student. Initially, the lifestyle changes were very overwhelming and challenging. In the beginning stages of the pandemic, my family experienced a death in the family. There was concern for the funeral arrangements due to the coronavirus. On the day of the funeral, the executive order of ten individuals or less was not mandated. However, there were still modifications to the arrangements for public safety. Our family opted not to host a repast to gather and fellowship, instead to-go dinners were provided to all that attended the funeral. It was an odd feeling to not stay for a traditional repast to celebrate the life of our loved one while consoling family and friends.Weeks prior, an announcement was made that schools for grades K-12 were suspended until further notice. As a working mom, childcare is a necessity to be able to work and provide for my family. My 1-year olds daycare opened their facility to grade school kids that were misplaced due to school closures. This was truly a blessing, but a couple of weeks later the daycare made an announcement that they were closing their doors to keep the staff and children safe until further notice. In order to keep working, I had to send my two oldest kids to Georgia to be with my mom. My 1 year old was able to stay with her dad during the day while he teleworked from home. During this time, my University announced campus closures and the transition to online classes.After two weeks of submitting a request to telework from home, it was approved! Even though my children were in good hands, I was eager to return them home and to able to help them with distance learning school. Then again, I had no idea how challenging it would be to telework with two children attending live classes twice a day, attend to my 1 year old, and attend a demanding online graduate class. Not knowing what to expect, the first week was extremely unorganized and challenging. There were missed assignments, I got caught up with telework and forgot to log one child into live class, lunch was served late, house was a mess, etc. We have since established a routine and balance to this new way of living, but it is still a challenging process. Nevertheless, Im blessed Im still able to work and provide for my family.Another adjustment to our lifestyle is how we attend worship service. We now attend worship services and bible study via Facebook live. I really miss attending church with my family and worshiping with my church family.It also stressful going to the grocery store not being able to find necessities for the family like toiletries and having a limitation on buying meats and produce. I cant leave the children at home alone, so I must take them with me to the grocery store. We all wear mask and the trips are quick, but I dont like taking them into crowded spaces. Over the past weeks, I have slowly seen improvement with challenge of finding necessities. Even though there has been many changes, challenges and struggles adapting to the impacts of the CORVID-19 pandemic, there are some positives. For instance, Im able to spend more quality time with my family. Instead of waking up early to get myself and three kids ready for work and school, I wake up early to make breakfast. Instead of rushing home from work and school to cook dinner, we can take walks together in the evening after having an early dinner to get out of being in the house all day. I also noticed a savings from not having to commute to work and school, also from not eating out and less entertainment activities. Also, a mini family vacation was planned for the spring and summer, which had to be cancelled. Sadly, those mini vacations were something we looked forward to attending for a while. Society and my family crave returning to their life of normalcy before the pandemic of CORVID-19, and it will happened in due time. However, as I watch the news, I hear concern about the upcoming forecast of a very active hurricane season. So, I just take one day at a time, pray, stand fast in faith, and count my blessings.