This is a 2-part series on how the COVID-19 has affected our county.
Life has changed drastically since COVID-19 came about. People all over the nation have had to endure quarantines, suddenly become homeschool teachers, wonder where money will come from to pay bills, and adjust to a life that they have never had to experience before.
Naturally, the citizens of Clarke County have made these same adjustments to their daily lives. Everyone is handling the pandemic in different ways, but the impact has affected every individual in some way.
Like many people, Anna Kuntz stayed busy before the pandemic began.
“I’ve been working from home from weeks now. I am a traveler. I travel for work almost every week. I’m always finding somewhere to go on the weekends. I love to go!” stated Anna. “I’m somewhat of a social butterfly. About two or three weeks ago, I was almost in the depths of depression. Tired of sitting in my house. Tired of not seeing all my friends. Missing my mama’s porch and my family. I guess I was being selfish and feeling sorry for myself.”
Although she didn’t enjoy having to slow down at first, Anna began to look at her situation from a different perspective.
“The past few weeks, I’ve slowed down. I’ve worked in my yard—something I’ve not done in years. I sit on my porch every morning and drink a few cups of coffee watching the cars go by. I wave at the nice young men that pick up my garbage weekly—men I’m normally flying past in a huge rush down the road on my way somewhere,” explained Anna. “I’ve cooked lots of meals for my family that I’ve not had time to do in a while. I’ve slept more hours. I’m still working a lot, but I’m not as stressed because I’m not in such a hurry to ‘get out of the office’ because there’s somewhere else I need to be or something else I need to be doing. I’ve found myself praying more, which I need to be doing.”
In her time home, she has noticed things that her usual fast-paced lifestyle would not allow.
“This little mama bird has become my so-called obsession the past few weeks,” said Anna. “In the weeks that I’ve been home, I’ve watched her build her nest and nurse her eggs. She’s guarded those eggs almost like this crazy Mama guards her kids. I’ve been driving my mama crazy asking her questions about birds. I’ve even googled gestation periods for birds. Well, I finally heard little chirps, and she finally sat still long enough for me to snap a picture. All of this would not have happened if God had not slowed my world down.”
Instead of focusing on how her life has changed and only complaining about having nothing to do, Anna has looked at the different things she’s learned from slowing down and been able to find the positives in an unpleasant situation.
“I have had a bad attitude about this whole COVID-19 ordeal, and I still have my opinions, but today I realized that there are so many little things that happen in my daily life,” explained Anna. “I’ve been in such a rush that these little things just flew right past me. Maybe I needed these past few weeks to slow me down or to show me that I need to be grateful for what we have. I know that I’ve sure been blessed for forty-seven years. I hope that I never take that for granted. Now on the flip side, I surely can’t wait to go to a restaurant and eat out with my friends. I can’t wait to get back out and see my Waste Pro family. Most importantly, I can’t wait to sit on my mama’s porch with my sisters and our kids laughing and solving all the world’s problems.”
Although there are positives that can be found from the ordeal, there are still families like the Faucettes who have to take extra precautions every day in order to protect loved ones in their family who are already considered high-risk.
“Due to Callie Grace being born extremely premature, she has Chronic Lung Disease and an underdeveloped immune system. Since she came home from the NICU in June of 2019, we have taken extreme precautions,” explained Natalie Faucette. “At the end of October 2019, with the beginning of Flu and RSV season, we practiced more extreme self-quarantining methods in order to protect her during a time where more difficult sicknesses could pose drastic setbacks to her progressing health.”
Although they have always been cautious to protect Callie Grace, COVID-19 has caused a change of plans for the Faucette family.
“April of 2020 was our last planned month of self-quarantining; we were going to be able to get out and about more: go to church, see family and friends who didn’t get the flu shot, enjoy a meal in a restaurant with our whole family, etc.,” stated Faucette. “The Coronavirus drastically changed all of those hopeful plans. Due to the Coronavirus causing respiratory distress, we are back on high-alert with Callie Grace; additionally, I have asthma, so I have had to remind myself that I am considered high-risk as well. We practice social distancing, sanitize all groceries and mail that comes in our home, continue to take shoes off at the door, continue good hand washing and cleaning practices, and encourage our other children, London and Bella, that one day we will have a more ‘normal’ lifestyle.”
Despite having to take extreme precautions to help protect the precious lives in the family, they have found ways to bond and cope with staying home. In fact, the things that have helped them deal with isolation can help anyone who is depressed from the restrictions set in place from the pandemic.
“Being isolated has been extremely difficult for all of us, and many are now finding themselves in the same position,” explained Faucette. “Some things that have helped us in our almost year long journey are to enjoy the small things, play family games or take up a new hobby you can do at home, take time for you even if it’s just 30 minutes a day, stay connected with friends and family, go on a walk or ride bikes, soak up some sunlight, and remember this won’t last forever. Keeping those you love and care for makes everything more than worth it. Additionally, when everything opens back up, continued safe practices are always smart to help keep sickness at bay!”
Not only are residents concerned with social distancing and keeping their families safe, but some people have to handle the stress of being considered a nonessential business and lack of income. One form of business that has suffered drastically is hair dressers.
“I haven’t worked since the week of March 20,” stated Natali Valentine. “Of course, I had to cancel several appointments, and rescheduling is on hold until we’ve been given the go-ahead to go back. I’ve kept pretty busy homeschooling two kids, and we’ve enjoyed being home and spending that time together.”
Being off hasn’t been easy for Natali, though.
“I’ve been denied unemployment but was finally able to get financial assistance from the government just this past week,” stated Natali. “Several weeks without pay haven’t been fun, but it’s not been too terrible either. Having saved money has paid off.”
Natali loves and misses her clients, and she does have plans for what to do as soon as she is allowed to resume work.
“When this is over, I will be going back to work, but it will be a lighter work load than usual,” said Natali. “I will take the necessary precautions to make sure the spread of germs is kept at a minimum.”
No matter what, every person in Clarke County has a story that will forever be told in reference to this virus for years to come.
“The virus is something new and everyone has had to learn to live differently day to day. We all rely on doctors, elected officials, law makers, and other really smart people to set guidelines for us because they are studied in their areas. We look to those in charge for answers, and when they don’t know what to do, we all panic,” stated Jennifer Bozeman. “We are all having to learn this new way of life. In 2-3 weeks, it may be totally different than it is while I am typing this.”
Although people may be getting frustrated with the current circumstances, it is important to look beyond those frustrations and try and find a positive thing or lesson.
“I tend to look at it this way: just breathe. Maybe God said we needed to pause a minute and catch our breath. Maybe He is telling us all to slow down. These days we are all so high-strung, tired, overworked, and so overrun in our daily lives that He just stuck His finger on the old rusty pause button,” explained Bozeman. “Enjoy the time spent with your family. Clean out your closets, only if you want to. I’m sure we all have too much stuff. Take a nap. Sit out in the sun and soak it in. Stop and smell the roses. The weather has been beautiful, except for a couple of tornadoes. Life used to be so laid back and fun. These days, not so much. Now we go ninety-to-nothing and fall in to bed exhausted, only to get up and do it all over again. Maybe we need to just breathe.”
Christian Singer Johnnie Diaz sings it perfectly:
Alarm clock screaming bare feet hit the floor, it’s off to the races everybody out the door. I’m feeling like I’m falling behind, it’s a crazy life. Ninety miles an hour going fast as I can, trying to push a little harder trying to get the upper hand. So much to do in so little time, it’s a crazy life. It’s ready, set, go, it’s another wild day.
Third cup of joe just to get me through the day, want to make the most of time but I feel it slip away.
I wonder if there’s something more to this crazy life. I’m busy, busy, busy, and it’s no surprise to see
that I only have time for me, me, me. There’s gotta be something more to this crazy life. I’m hanging on tight to another wild day. When it starts to fall apart in my heart I hear you say just
Breathe, just breathe
Come and rest at my feet
and be, just be
Chaos calls but all you really need is to just breathe.
See next week for the 2nd story in this series.
