I have to admit, we are facing crisis of epic proportions right now. The coronavirus has upended our lives in ways that we could not have imagined. For some people, that meant getting stuck at home instead of going to work, the grocery store, the gym or the movie theater. There are some people that did managed to keep working because their jobs were considered essential. I was one of those essential workers, because I work in the grocery department of the retail store that I work at. Which begs the question: How am I surviving this pandemic?

For starters, I did not go out much prior to the pandemic (with the exceptions of dinner out with my family, occasional trips out on my bike, and when my grandmother and I work down at the arena.) When the severity of the pandemic became clear, my number one priority became keeping my nearly 80 year old grandmother out of danger. For the most part, I kept her home and out of danger, with the exception of the occasional trips to the grocery store (even then, she remained in the car while I did the running inside the store.) Save for a couple of trips to Sam’s Club, and to take some cans to recycling, we did not leave our home unless I went to and from work at my primary job.

As for what I did at home in my free time, I assisted my grandmother in cleaning my home (there is still work to be done there), watched movies and television on my tablet, and listened to music (A topic for a future blog post). More recently, I started tackling some home improvement projects (such as working on my deck), and restarted this blog. As time goes on, I will gradually start running and riding my bike more frequently in an effort to lose some weight and get healthy. I am also taking this time to re-examine my diet (I will admit that I am not the healthiest eater.)

One day, everything will eventually return to somewhat close to normal, but it will not be the same as it was before the start of the pandemic. Until then, I will attempt to stay positive and keep moving forward. One way or another, the world as I knew it will never be the same.