- We have become a closer family. People may say that brothers, sisters, parents and relatives are a close family, until one or two, who may be in that particular age bracket who may be most affected, and we have circled the wagons and speak ever so often to make sure everyone is okay. We even do the shopping for my Mother, so she doesn’t have to go into the stores. She is 85 years old. We, as a family member, all have our parts to do and everyone has been so helpful in this process.
- I think Covid has also helped me become a more focused ‘third generation family member’ with Humboldt working remotely. I have daily and weekly goals that I set for myself and try to accomplish. This is a scary time for everyone and meeting the employment needs for the firm, helping people achieve employment, and learning how effective, efficient, punctual and dependable these hires are on the job helps us ‘all meet the bottom line’ in getting the job done for our customers. This is also very rewarding for me. -Steve
- Fear to Joy. My Mom lives in a nursing home and once COVID started it got pretty bad where she lives. 64 residents out of 114 got COVID with 28 passing. I got the call in AM, pretty short and to the point, my Mom tested positive, they would quarantine her and hope for the best. Next 3 weeks was very nerve wracking. There were many days she was too weak to speak. Not many updates from the staff as they were overwhelmed with what was going on within the facility. Finally got the call exactly 3 weeks later – test came back negative. Fear to relief in 3 weeks.
- Awesome Teamwork. Once everything switched to working remotely, I think the sales team really came together and has become a very strong unit. Being with Humboldt a long time, this is the closet I’ve seen us all work together. Team Zoom meeting and individual Zoom meetings/calls have worked out great
From a personal standpoint binge watching. I’ve never been one to sit and watch 3 or 4 episodes of something in a row – but it’s a great way to spend time with my wife in the early stages when then was really nothing to do except work, walk the dog, and watch tv. -Dave
My Magic Moment is I have been blessed with a “grand dog” from this crisis and she is the sweetest most lovable dog. She does not have much energy and reminds us all of Eeyore. She has brought joy and happiness and lots of laughs to us all over these past couple of months. My daughter planned on getting a dog over the summer being a school adjustment councilor she figured the summer would be a good time. However, when she found out they would not be going back to school she decided to adopt sooner and that is when Nala found her. By the sounds of it Nala did not have a very good first couple of years so it was a win win for both parties. ?
-Maryann
The Covid-19 quarantine has been an interesting time for my family. I can’t think of a time where we have spent so much consecutive time at home, and when it started, it was a real struggle. The time at home though has allowed my son to really build a strong bond with our family’s dogs. One of them is very, very timid, to the point that he will not go out on walks unless our other dog is right next to him. During this time, however, my son has been able to take him on walks and even run with him away from the other dog without him getting nervous! My son also went up into his tree house one day, and I could see him in the backyard encouraging the dogs to try to climb up the slide to join him. Needless to say, it did not quite work out, but these few moments made me realize how important a relationship can be between a boy and his dog. It has really given my son an outlet during a tough time for children! -Tim
My magic moment happened at the very beginning when things shut down. I cannot put into words my appreciation for my community. My son has Autism. Many teachers from the school and neighbors even the ones we don’t know well reached out right away to make sure he was ok and had everything he needed. -Anonymous
Myself and my husband made up little boxes of treats to bring to our friends and their families that had some long days in their home. We filled the boxes with all different snacks/candy that were blue – so for example Oreo’s, rice crispy treats (wrapping is blue). On the outside of the box we put a note: Something out of the blue from us to you! We drove around dropped them off at our friends homes. We got pictures from them with their kids opening up the boxes or text messages thanking us for the nice surprise. It was a way to brighten up someone’s long day in the house!
We have also found ourselves having zoom calls with friends from out of state. With this going we are not able to go on trips to see friends, so we are doing weekly calls and talking a lot more than we did before on a weekly basis. It has been interesting to hear the differences in each state. While we can’t be in the same place with each other we have been connecting more than usual! -Jamie
During Covid-19 we went from an empty nest to a full house:
Zoom classes and streaming tested our WiFi.
“No good food” tested our pantry.
Laundry tested our washing machine.
College sleep schedules tested our patience.
Magic moments have come on family game nights.
We taught the kids to play Texas Hold ‘Em and they taught us Mario Cart.
There’s been a lot of laughing, trash talking and cursing
(all that college tuition and the vocabulary they come home with…)
Game night has helped my family find some fun and joy during this time.
-Jenn
My magic moment during this pandemic has to be the birth of my son. He is our second child, and our first was born two years ago before COVID, in a “normal” delivery setting. In the weeks leading up to his birth, we had heard stories about the process during deliveries that started to add stress on to our assumptions of the situation.
Our doctor had prepped us for the new rules but walking into the hospital felt like a brand new experience, with both excitement and trepidation. Looking back on it now, I can say that the entire team at our hospital did an amazing job and helped bring a healthy baby boy safely into the world. Everyone, from the staff to the incredible nurses and the doctors involved did everything they could to keep us comfortable during a stressful situation. Though it was difficult to be stuck in one room for over 48 hours, we emerged with a new member of the family and full hearts. -Derek
For me is adapting to a very different way of life now. My day to day functions a have totally changed and had to find a way to make it work for me. Working from home at the beginning was a very big challenge but I managed to adapt and actually do like it now. I realized I can manage my work time so much better and get more done and less stress. I like the fact that I can jump on my computer earlier or later if I choose to do so to make my days easier during the day.I also feel much healthier, eating better with no take out making better health choices. I was never one to exercise, actually hated it! But now as I need to be sure I move around, I walk every day twice, either early am, or after 5pm and sometimes on my lunch and manage to walk at least 6 miles a day some days up to 8 miles when I feel like challenging myself? So, feeling really good and healthy. So I guess for me something good came out of this horrible Virus!-Anonymous
My wife Tobie is a nurse @ Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, and I have a reinforced respect for her hard work, as well as for all front line service workers
I’ve witnessed first-hand how invested these people are with their jobs, and how hard they work to see things through, even when the going gets tough and unpredictable.
My wife works in a Cardiac Cath Lab. I’ve seen her work 12-14 hours a day, calling patients at home to review their medical histories and to schedule them for procedures. To say you need patience for this kind of work would be an understatement. Most patients are in their “Golden Years” in life, so speaking with them on the phone requires a certain volume so they can hear (a lot of WHAT DID YOU SAY? And WHAT WAS THAT?) Imagine 10-12 of these calls a day. She will then will work a floor shift on the weekends. She’s in her scrubs and PPE and jumps right in to give her fellow front-line nurses a day off. She’s also usually the nurse that cheers up those patients that need cheering up. You really feel like you’ve known her your whole life within 10 minutes of meeting her.Long story short, it’s nice to see people rise to the occasion of what life deals you. Watching my wife work as hard as she does makes be proud, but humbles me at the same time. -Dan
With my daughter being a senior this year. She was unable to have a senior prom, graduation part and a regular graduation ceremony. No one knows when this pandemic will be over so that we can have her regular graduation party. Could be 6 months or a year from now. Not the way I would have liked her last year of high school to have ended this way. No one could have predicted what 2020 would have been. Total disruption of normal daily function. -Cathy
