OCEAN’S STORY
2020 started off beautifully: new home, newly engaged, new job. March of that year, I returned from a trip overseas. Word of a new virus was circulating before I left and upon my return, COVID-19 was in full swing. We luckily returned in time, avoiding boarder restrictions. At work, the girls chatted about how long the pandemic might last. Everyday F.P. shared the number of Ontarians that tested positive for the virus, but work continued as usual. I knew things were getting serious when the hospital started making big changes.
In the first wave, I made the decision to volunteer for redeployment. My fiancé was not a fan of the idea but I insisted on going and he reluctantly agreed. That same day, I was pulled from the hospital to assist at nursing home. I arrived and was instantly put to work. First task, assist the charge nurse with bagging and tagging the body of a recently deceased resident. That was an immediate wake-up call. Had I chosen to do the right thing? Would I catch the virus too? Would I survive if I caught it? Would I infect someone I loved unknowingly?
My fiancé and I had planned a wedding with close to 200 guests. Then he was abruptly let go from his job. We went back and forth several times trying to decide if we should continue with the wedding. We chose to move forward with the wedding. Of course we took all the precautions necessary and encouraged our guests to attend based on their evaluation of risk to themselves.
Shortly after the wedding I found out that I was several weeks pregnant! I delivered a healthy baby boy in 2021. No one but my husband was able to be with me during the delivery and although bitter sweet, that time together was everything. COVID-19 brought on so many different stressors to our lives and highlighted some that I had not given thought to. It took so much from so many families. I am fortunate to come out of it in a better place than where I started. I think of it as if someone hit the reset button on the world, the cards were shuffled and for no reason in particular I was dealt an above average hand. My husband ended up with a better job; we had a beautiful wedding; and were blessed with a baby boy. Though the pandemic is still ongoing, these last few years living under restrictions gave me precious, uninterrupted time to just be with the people who are essential to my life. It gave me the space I needed to grow into wifehood and motherhood.