More happy with my lot since the start of Coronavirus!

Thank you for your kind words wendyann and smileless .

I think while some people are almost revelling in their new found peace and prosperity, there are others who will pay the price for the rest of their (very hard) lives.

Sending you a virtual hug gillybob. I read your posts on Good morning GN. You're having such a rough time. All my good wishes. ???

I have followed your posts gilly and my heart goes out to you and others who are struggling ??

Priorities, yes. Before lockdown the fact that my hearing aids and and new glasses need adjusting because they cut into my ears a bit would have been a top priority to get fixed - now I just think I am lucky I have them at all. Likewise, shock horror, one of our kitchen drawer handles has had to be removed, poorly fitted originally we realised. So to open we just have to first open the drawer below. We have done nothing about it because we couldn't and have got used to it. None of the above seems to matter at all whereas before they would have meant a flurry of phone calls and appointments.

I do realise though that we have become institutionalised in our own home. It seems normal now to have the same routine every day and not bother with looking presentable, I just make sure I don't do any housework at weekends to make those two days seems a bit different.

I can't at the moment imagine at all what life will be like in the months and years ahead.

I have said from the start that this will be a time to reflect. We will realize that things we thought were important aren't. We will prioritise in a different way. We will live in a simpler way and appreciate what we have.

It is good that some people are enjoying this quarantine period but the vast majority are suffering because of it. My son's job will almost certainly go as he works in the hospitality industry. So many small businesses are going to fold. Mental health problems are being exacerbated, hospital appointments missed (many because people are frightened to go to a hospital). People who have no choice but to use public transport in order to get to work are going to be frightened. The media has become even more unreliable - who do you trust? We cannot continue like this. We have to try and get back to some sort of normality.

Gillybob, thank you for bringing a view from the other side of the fence. It does us all good to be reminded of what life is like for so many. You are a brave and courageous woman.

Jomarie, I empathise with your post. Well done for writing it.

I feel I have been able to take a breather and come off the hamster wheel I'm normally on of full-time work ,babysitting and keeping up with housework I don't know if I'm happier but it's certainly made me appreciate my family, home ,garden and friends it just makes me sad when you think of the grief and sadness that so many others are going through due to Covid 19

This was never going to “unite the nation” luluaugust just cause an even bigger division between the have’s and the have not’s in society.

gillybob as our neighbour said 'We are the lucky ones. We have a pension, probably no mortgage and we have a garden. There are millions out there who are desperately trying to hold everything together'.
I agree with him.
There are so many who have lost their jobs, stuck with children in a flat, are lonely, lost their businesses, working on the front line and worrying about bringing the virus home.
Not to mention those who have lost loved ones.

I hope things improve for you soon.


jennilin I do see your point of view too. Although we haven't seen family and I don't think we will see some of them for at least a year if not more, we do have blessings to count and we do have the internet so can keep in touch instantly.

It is the death toll that is so horrific in all of this, but I do understand where you are coming from I feel the same. I was working part time so on furlough at the moment. This time has gone so quick but seems ages ago it all started. I do and don't want to go back to work, miss my colleagues there but am quite happy at home too!

Gillybob some of us are very fortunate with our lot but some of us aren’t. I would hope that those of us who are more fortunate not only appreciate that but also think of others where there is going to be a lot of hardship. It may be that those better off should help those that aren’t if we are going to continue being a caring compassionate society which a lot of people have demonstrated we are to the extent ofputting their lives on the line.

I have just heard of a friend and neighbour who is alone and unwell and on medication after cancer . She can't go into her communal garden because the people next door have 4 small children and a dog who have the run of it all day long.
I have invited her to sit in ours but we are shielding too so I'm not sure I should.
I am sorry about your situation Gilly and hope hard it will improve.
Nothing lasts forever.

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Grammaretto can she access your garden through a side gate or would she have to come through the house? If she can bring her own chair, or you could leave one in part of the garden for her use at a distance from yours, bring her own drink etc then I think it would be fine.

Although we are all missing many things in our lives I think many of us are grateful for what we do still have. I know I am lucky in that I am being paid to 'work from home' but not being asked to do very much at all, and although I miss seeing colleagues, I am grateful that the school, where I'm a learning support assistant, have not required me to be on the rota to go in as I'm vulnerable.

I don't usually see my AC often as they live a long way away, but obviously I've missed the visits I had planned. I've enjoyed regular Facetime calls with my daughter but struggled with the day she sobbed down the phone as I couldn't do anything to help. Fortunately her distress was short lived - a second car breakdown in a week - but horrible not being able to help her, not that I would ever be able to help as she lives 400 miles away, but normally she'd have taken it in her stride!

I'm grateful for the kind neighbours who helped with shopping when I had to isolate and I'm grateful for regular visits from our vicar at a safe distance.

I'm also aware that many are suffering terribly. I'm trying to support the local charities who are doing what they can to help, particularly the foodbank. Many of us are spending less because we can't go out for meals or to the theatre etc so we have cash to spare to support those less fortunate.

I can't imagine what it is like for some of them but I feel for those who are losing everything and I know I am one of the lucky ones. I also miss the voluntary work I usually do with the homeless, and hope that the help they are being given is enough. The government have promised extra funding but I suspect many vulnerable people will be back on the streets before the promised accomodation can be built.

gillybob your post gives some perspective of what many are going through. I hope things improve for you soon and that you and your family get the support you need.

Do seem a bit more content with my lot. Think I have recognised even more just how much we are influenced by corporate advertising of all the things we "need and must do". One particular habit I gave changed is using face cleaners. With the info on how soap removes the Covid-19 from our hands I thought well why can it not remove bacteria from my face along with makeup. Had used hot cloth system up until now. My skin hasn't looked so clear for years and after rinsing off soap no traces of makeup on cloth when I wipe dry. What else can I do without is an ongoing search.

jennilin I too hope the world will have changed a little bit for the better when we come out of all of this. I have only seen what has happened in my village since its not been possible to go elsewhere, and it was amazing. Over 100 people volunteered to help the shielding population, people were kind and considerate, nearly everyone obeyed the lock-down for the common good. We learnt to value the smaller things in life and we were all in it together. However I do feel now that we need to move on. Real harm is being done to some people through isolation, people are losing their jobs and livelihoods, children and teenagers are lacking in vital social contacts, the economy has taken a massive hit. We have to try to get back to some sort of normal and hope the positive lessons learnt will stick just a little bit.

gillybob your list sounds horrendous it must be a very stressful time for you and your family. I'm not saying there hasn't been difficulties for me in dealing with a severely disabled husband and lock down but I just feel grateful for what I have and the fact that this will end soon, if all the stats. are correct, helps. I don't think any of us will have managed to deal with this situation without some form of trauma. You have a great deal to cope with, though, I sincerely hope you and other people in a similar situation find the first stages of the 'lock down easing', means that you can begin to move tentatively back to normality. That would be wonderful.

My life is different in that my DD used to come round regularly, the kids used to sleep here often and spend weekends here, and I went to 3 or 4 meetings of U3A a month. Apart from that, to be honest, my life is not hugely different. Neither DH nor I are very social people, so we're not missing a huge crowd of pals, and we have a pretty simple lifestyle. If anything is going to be different when this is over, it will be that I am going to try to get out more.

But I probably won't. It is a bit like a New Year's resolution, and I have never been able to keep them.

Please get hold of Citizens advice if you can or havent already..on all the problems besetting you and yr family..praying you can all be helped..Pehaps get tough with GP surgery re scans referrals etc..

At the VE Day commemorations me and my friend discovered that 2 of our neighbours were suffering mentally with 'shielding'
We decided to meet in my garden every week. They are so much happier.
It appears that they were/are shielding purely because they are 85. Nothing wrong with either of them. Up until the lockdown they were both out every day come rain or shine.

Oh no , not sure where my previous message went but gilly I think you have an impossible task .. none of us escaped the virus and it's implications ... but like the rest of us against all odds we just fight.. my husband is horribly disabled. I have not been able to get any support. Human resilience against all odds is a virtue. No one wanted covid how we deal with it is up to us ..but I'm not sure this government is giving enough support to people like you

In a world which had become more self-centered the Lockdown has focused us on what is important in daily living.
I feel deeply sorry for those families who have lost family members to the Coronavirus. Those who have lost a home and business and their sole source of income.
I am a religious person and therefore see life from that perspective. Life is short and we need to make the best of what we have.
I have lived abroad and seen extreme poverty, starvation and death because of lack of the very basics of life.
I don't want to compare our current Lockdown with world poverty. We are lucky that we have services like the NHS and Social Services.
I know I will get some negative comments. We are all in this together and I have experienced the best in people as a very vulnerable person.
And for that I am extremely grateful.
I am also more content in myself during isolation.

I agree jimbow15 and I think it is sad that people apologise for expressing their views . We are all different and we deal with this crisis in different ways none of which are wrong because we all have different ways of dealing with it. I expect for people who are comfortable it's difficult to understand people's suffering more tolerance and understanding is needed