Overnight our world has changed directions, letting us know how precious life is and how limited our time with loved ones. The greatest unspoken message throughout the world is that we have all come together to help each other through this COVID-19 pandemic that has silently taken over the world, affecting so many lives, all across the world. Toilet paper, paper towels and hand sanitizer became a rare commodity. For our family, my husband and I hunkered down at our home. I worried about our kids, our grandchildren and our parents, as we have not experienced anything like this before. Being asked to not leave our homes and not to even go to work as we watched many of the businesses, including the restaurants, close around us created an eerie feeling everywhere, and in the beginning, we stayed glued to the TV.
My kids stayed at their homes and drove by to drop off or pick up supplies. With our temples and churches closed for Passover and Easter and our children’s schools and colleges closed, this will really be a time to remember. We all found ways to connect through Facetime and Zoom calls, and even an app called House Party.
I made it a point to reach out to check in with several family members, friends and neighbors. I’ve been doing my radio show from home and continue to do so. Not really conducting business, just sharing the brighter side of life and celebrating the angels in our community that are making a difference. My salon closed right away and I was able to bring home my products for clients that needed a quick color done by someone in their own home. What a concept! I was giving tutorials to guide them to do their own color, and quite frankly, even the pickiest were not picky. Our construction company was able to carry on, classified as essential, since the work takes place in empty commercial buildings. In the beginning we had huge hopes of gutting our home and getting all of our projects done, but that quickly slipped away. What did happen is we relaxed, planted vegetables, put together puzzles and played games over Zoom. We watched Netflix and had Zoom calls with family and friends. We made incredible meals with whatever we had in the pantry until we finally made it to the store.
A huge thank you to Claire, a high schooler who offered to go shopping for many of us in the community. I’m also amazed by all the creative masks that everyone has created.
It’s incredible to see everyone around the world do their job from their homes — I believe this will change the way we do business going forward.
How did your family handle it? What did you accomplish during this time? What are you going to do when life resumes? I hope your families are well.
Tune into the Kim Pagano Show, “the brighter side of life,” on 1590 KVTA or KVTA.com and subscribe to the podcast on https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-kim-pagano-show/id508620444.