It was crazy how life changed so quickly. Ironically COVID brought my family closer, even though we lived in different cities. We made a point to Facetime several times a week to combat the isolation. My wife's job went remote, so she was also home more. Of course, I couldn't work remotely and I was a nervous wreck until the vaccine came out. I was working two jobs at the time, full-time for a municipal fire department and part-time for a large hospital. Both involved extensive contact with COVID patients. I remember working several cardiac arrests of COVID+ patients pre-vaccine and praying that my N95 and stupid gown would keep me safe. Turns out they did. It was nerve-wracking but at the same time I felt like I was doing something important and stepping up to my generation's fight, the same way people did when society faced l threats in generations past. When the vaccines finally became available, the sense of relief was hard to describe.
What sucked then and still sucks now was seeing firsthand the death and sadness caused by the virus and then seeing idiots on social media, some of whom you know, talking about how the virus is/was "fake", how no one was really dying, how it was all made up, etc. Lost a few friendships over it. Good riddance.
