SO I had planned to keep a journal to document all that I anticipated happening during these unprecedented times. Like all good intentions, it fell by the wayside, and here it is 2 months later and I'm just writing my next update.
Kyle got home fine. He flew for two or three days, I can't remember now, landing in the Middle East, then Chicago, then home. He was on one of the last flights on Emirates out of Malaysia. He and Macey both landed in Chicago at pretty much the same time, and they were able to fly back to Louisville on the same flight. Her mom and sister met them at the airport with her car, and she drove the two of them to Andy Rawl's house, where they quarantined for two weeks. Thankfully, they never got sick. They did feel icky and had runny noses and a little cough, but we attributed that to being jet lagged and living in Andy's house, which was dusty and had been empty for weeks and weeks.
Kentucky did shut down not too long after my post on March 20. I can't remember the exact date now. The last two months have been a BLUR.
I snagged some fabric and the remaining elastic from Joann's before retail was closed and began making masks. I initially made about 200 that I gave away to medical people and first responders. I ran out of elastic. I begged on Nextdoor.com for more elastic and drove around nearby neighborhoods picking up a yard here and there out of people's mailboxes. I kept making more and more masks. I sent them to firefighters in New Hampshire, our pediatrician's office, police officers in St. Matthews, the pediatric oncology ward in a local hospital. I gave them to old people and immuno-compromised people. I made them for kids and adults. I ran out of elastic again.
My neighbor, Irene, found a huge roll online and ordered it for me. I started getting orders from regular people asking if I'd make them masks. I decided to charge $5 a mask to help cover the cost of my supplies. I got a Venmo account. I got an order for 300 masks from a local business. I got another order for 113 masks from my high school for their baccalaureate mass. In between, I got orders for a dozen or 4 or 2 from various people. I made them at night, all day, on the weekends. I finished the order for 300 on Easter Sunday. I went through all of my cotton fabric and pulled what I could use. I got donations of fabric from my next door neighbor. I bought cotton bed sheets and cut them up. I think in all, I have made nearly 1000 masks. I lost track around 600, and that was a few weeks ago. When people order them for themselves or their family, I put them in a ziploc bag with their name on it and leave it in my paper box. They drive up and grab them and either leave money in return or Venmo me. I have wondered if my neighbors think I'm doing something illicit!
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| My living room work space. |
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| Some of the masks for the pediatric oncology ward |
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| 300 masks |
In the middle of all this, as retail shut down, Kirk's clients stopped needing him. He took a pay cut. It was scary, and reminded me of when he got laid off two years ago. I didn't want to go through that anxiety again. I got the chance to work for the Kentucky Unemployment Cabinet answering phones from my house. It paid $15/hour for 40 hours/week. I couldn't pass it up. So I moved my sewing to one end of the table, got a second laptop and a headset, and started answering the phone.
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| Putting on a good face before work |
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| How I really felt most days |
It was brutal.
People hadn't been paid since the beginning of March. They hadn't been able to talk to anyone but the automated message from the state. I got to hear all of their anger and fear. They yelled. They cried. The swore at me. I listened and tried not to take it personally. I sometimes cried with them. I asked if I could pray for them. I gave out the number to food banks and churches and charities where they could get help. I hung up on someone once after warning her several times that she'd have to quit dropping the F-bomb at me. I worked from 7:30-3:30 Monday through Friday. It was exhausting. I hated it. I dreaded answering the phone. The state changed our protocol on a weekly basis and didn't give us any warning. I couldn't really help anybody. All I could do was listen and transfer them for a callback. After work, I sewed masks.
Last week, I got the request from Holy Cross for the 113 masks. I accepted even though I knew it would mean me working 12-15 hour days. I couldn't pass up the money. On Monday, I snipped elastic while I answered the phone. That night, I went to Walmart and got maroon and gray sheets for the masks and cut out the pattern. On Tuesday, we didn't have many calls, so I set up my machine between my laptops and began to sew. I got all of them put together. Kirk and Emily turned them right-side out. On Wednesday, still no calls. I ironed all of them and began putting in the pleats. Same for Thursday. On Friday, I pressed them all again to make them crisp and boxed them up. Friday afternoon, the state laid us all off. I filed for unemployment on Saturday. The irony is not lost on me!
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| 113 masks for Holy Cross High School |
In the middle of all of this, Kirk began working with a group trying to sell personal protective equipment. PPE. He's got some good leads and I hope it will pan out. He worked out of the basement office for the second half of March, all of April, and the first few weeks of May. He went back to the office this past Monday. It was really good for him to get back to a routine.
After a few weeks at our house taking classes while living in Kyle's room, Claire decided to go back to her house in Lexington. She and her roommates have been social distancing to the point that they even order their food from Click-List and pick it up. She's very serious about staying away from anybody who might potentially get her sick, so she hardly comes home. When she does, she stays on the patio.
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| Claire in class |
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| Social distancing |
Emily had hoped to return to Sacred Heart for one more day to walk through the halls and say goodbye to all of her teachers, but that wasn't in the cards. Schools remained closed, and she finished out her senior year in Claire's bedroom, where we had set up her workspace. There were a lot of tears on both of our parts. Everything was cancelled. The Pink and White game. The spring soiree. The Mother-Daughter Mass and Brunch. Senior Breakfast and walk-through. Baccalaureate Mass. Graduation. Some of the things went virtual, which sucked. I HATE zoom. Some of the things were drive-through, like the senior walk-through. Some didn't happen at all like the baccalaureate mass and graduation. It was all really disappointing.
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| First day of on-line school |
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| Last day of senior year |
Sacred Heart tried hard to make things memorable. One day, teachers delivered senior graduate yard signs to every senior. She got letters in the mail from a few of her teachers. The drive through was emotional, with our decorated van and teachers clapping for students along the way. She picked up her cap and gown at the end of the route. The Madrigal "dinner" was touching with its video of the girls over the years. We went to campus one day and took pictures in her cap and gown. I'm really glad we did that. On what would have been her graduation day, we drove through the parking lot and she got out and got her dozen roses and a snapshot photo in front of the sports fields. Parents couldn't get out of the cars to even take our own photos. We went to take pictures with her best friends and then to Brendan's house after for a socially distant cookout. That was nice, but Claire decided not to join us, so there was that.
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| Teachers delivering yard signs |
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| Making a girl feel special |
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| Senior drive through |
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| Teachers showing support |
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| Almost at the finish line |
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| Cap and gown pick up |
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| Mrs. Nall delivering the cap and gown |
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| Photo shoot |
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| Photo shoot |
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| Look out, NKU, here she comes! |
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| Picking up her roses |
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| Picture with her roses |
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| Emily, Lucie, Bree, and Hannah |
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| Tossing the rose petals |
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| Socially distant family |
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| Emily and Brendan after their graduations |
Today, I'm sitting on the patio wondering what the rest of the summer will hold for us. I hope and pray that Emily will get to start at NKU in the fall. If nothing else, the loss of the end of her senior year will make it easier for me to let her go off to college. I want something good for her. She's been a trooper through all this and has taken it in stride. She got upset a few times, but for the most part has been pretty stoic about the whole thing. I did give her a little present each day the week before her graduation to try and make things more special.
People in general are also taking things in stride. We wear masks out in public to go to the grocery or Target. Churches opened up this weekend, but we chose not to attend. I don't know how long it will be before I feel safe in a crowd. It may be awhile. I went to a home goods store yesterday to get cushions for my swing, and almost had a panic attack with the amount of people in the store and many of them not wearing masks. Some people are freaking out, demanding the governor open up the state 100%. They hung an effigy of him on the state house lawn yesterday. This virus has brought out the best and worst in people.
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| In the Kroger parking lot |
We have started some new things. Kyle has begun carving. He's really good. I started a garden. It's small, but we've already had enough greens for two nice salads. Claire began working for the Urban Forest Initiative in Lexington.
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| Kyle's carving |
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| My garden |
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| Claire at work |
So, I hope we can get away for a few days somewhere soon. I'd love to go to the beach for a week. I keep reminding myself that if having to stay home is the worst thing that can happen to me, then it's a pretty great thing.
