By Terri Lynn Oldham House
We asked SUN readers and Facebook friends, “What’s been hardest for you during the pandemic?”
The following is an unedited sampling of what they had to share:
Anthony S. Rivas: “Living in the city and being stuck at home.”
Lorie Griego: “Not having a steady paycheck. With bills still needing to be paid.”
Connie McKeithen Prunty: “No traveling or camping!”
Keele Smith: “No gym!!”
Cheryl Ward-Bowdridge: “Not seeing my family, friends and students.”
Nancy Ray: “Hugs from friends.”
Bob Hemenger: “Not getting to play or listen to live music. Not getting to visit my parents in Detroit.”
Suzy Potter Bruce: “Not being able to attend church in the building and not being able to go into a restaurant and enjoy being waited on! I’m tired of cooking 7 days a week!”
Brandye Byrd Kiker: “Watching all the kids struggling with job loss, school changes, no commencement, etc. And watching local businesses suffering.”
Lisa Hartley: “Not being able to hug the littles in my life. Miss playing in the concert bands I’m involved in and the canceled musicals and concerts I had tickets for.”
Kathleen Grams: “Not being able to see family & friends.”
Joan Stofft Hageman: “Not being able to hug my children and grandchildren. I miss them so!”
Lisa Griffin Smith: “Not being able to see my children! But so proud of my son whose a police officer and my daughter who works at the boulder Hospital.”
Janet Valdez: “In person ... Hugs & Laughter with kids & grandkids!!”
Carol Ann Peterson: “Social interaction.”
Stacy Boone: “Not being able to be the hands on educator I want to be.”
Michele Sweitzer: “Making ends meet!”
Julie Dockery Taylor: “Home schooling my kids who are in 3rd and 1st grade .trying to figure out the technology of the apps and how to upload school work.”
Justin Cowan: “Not being able to walk through the school and observe all the amazing things the kids and teachers are involved in. Singing with them. Laughing with them. Watching a child’s eyes light up with understanding and a teacher smile as her students learn.”
Sylvia McDaniel: “Not being able to travel. I’ve had to cancel a business trip and most importantly a trip to see my mother.”
Beth Anderson Einig: “Not being able to meet up and shoot Cowboy Fast Draw and then go out to eat with my San Juan Shootists! And I miss choir with my church!”
Angel Gonzalez: “What to make for Lunch/Dinner.”
Sam Conti: “I miss not being able to see my clients face to face and giving hugs to my fellow therapists.”
Joann Pacheco: “Planning on visiting family and my mom in Pagosa , when plans where made head of time, had to cancel Easter and now Mother’s Day. Yes I have been working on the front line serving customers since the first of March when this broke out, and still working, my vacation starts on Sunday, now I stay home, most like I just work.”
Sally Logee Neel: “That feeling of uncertainty when I leave the house. I miss hugging my friends and worshipping with my church community.”
Susan Niemiec McAdams: “I miss going to church on Sunday and loving on my church family.”
Diane Maun: “Wearing a mask without fogging my glasses and socializing with friends.”
Jack Ellis: “Not hanging out with the grandkids.”
Scott Wall: “Watching local business owners and their staff suffer through this over-reaction. They all work so hard to make this a wonderful place to live.”
S.j. Cooper: “The uncertainty.”
Mary Callan: “Thinking of all those poor people who have had to die alone...it must be so lonely and frightening. My heart breaks for them...to die alone after suffering so much, and often times being hit so suddenly with the illness, it must be terrifying. I pray constantly that our dear Lord scoops them up quickly and consoles them.”
Rhonda Webb: “Trying to make decisions without facts.”
Kathleen Wells Steventon: “Thinking about the immigrant children who our government has kidnapped. Trapped in crowded cages. No doubt dying of Cov19 without anyone to know. That is the hardest thing to feel.”
Joe Darr: “Not being able to sing in the church choir.”
Thomas Otho Fletcher: “Trying to deal with doctors.”
Michelle Kappauf: “Juggling two essential jobs and homeschooling two kiddos as a single mom.”
Di AL: “My mom passed away on March 28th. So sad that she was in ‘lock down’ at her assisted living facility for the last month of her life and we had to cancel our trip to see her right before she passed. I just think she was so sad with all this going on in the world. Thank God she had her faith and always would tell us she was ready to go be with my dad.”
Beverly D. Chester: “Not being able to see friends and line dance!”
Jim Harris: “Going to work every day knowing people are getting paid to sit at home.”
Renee Cordova: “Not being able to see other people’s expressions.”
Mary Hozian Helminski: “Seeing my sister suffer alone with the death of her husband.”
Joe Netherton: “Watching the governments at all levels over react to models that haven’t been anywhere near accurate causing untold Americans to panic and live in fear of each other and everything. This has caused so many to miss out on literally everything that is important in their lives.”
Stephanie Bramble: “I was at school in New Zealand and the remainder of my school was canceled and I was sent home. After being surrounded by amazing friends everyday to coming home to self quarantine for two weeks then to remain in isolation was incredibly difficult, especially for an extrovert who thrives on social interaction.”
Josephine Ribera: “Not being able to be with daughter in Florida to watch my grandson while she had my granddaughter and her hubby not being able to be with her in the delivery room because he stayed home to take care of my grandson. Also, not being able to hug and hold the grandbabies I have close by and come by to see their 93 year-old great grandma, (she misses them, too.) Missing family time.”
Alison Marie Beach: “Working from home with my 3 kids and still meeting deadlines. I have a 10yo who is distance learning, a 3yo who has fairly constant temper tantrums and a baby who just learned how to crawl. I can say for certain that I am more busy and exhausted than pre-quarantine.”
Space doesn’t allow for us to print every comment that we received. We’ll share more of the answers submitted next week.
