One thing I’ve lost for sure is a lot of stamina. Sitting around doing not much over the winter has done me no good, as I discovered while doing some yard work today. I feel as if this year will some sort of marker in my life, a point where things have changed and aren’t going back. I hope that makes some sense.

"Have you noticed any changes over the past 14 months?" In myself? No. Definitely not.

I’ve been thinking about this, alisand, for a while now. It’s a real topic of conversation!

For me, it’s hard to know what has been because of the pandemic, what has been because of my own life changes, and how the pandemic has impacted those changes.

I‘m not sure the pandemic itself changed me. But it certainly has impacted me!

No

no here too.

I have lost a year of my life. I had planned on traveling until I was 75 to parts of the world I have only seen in pictures once my husband died and things were settled using the money that had been going to nursing home charges for that. I refuse to be like one of my great aunts that traveled into her 80s with a paid companion. Most of the things I did were spur of the moment even things like going for groceries. Now I have reduced everything to planned things. The thought of just calling up my travel agent and asking her to book a trip to a random location like I did in 2019 is just not something I think I will ever feel comfortable doing again. I am not even certain that I want to travel even to the next state.

I think for me, it was just so personal what with my family contracting the virus twice, me being a long hauler for over a year now, my dh working with the public who would rather than coming in to conduct business in a civilized manner, viciously wanting to challenge him and his staff to a fight over masks (!!!), day in, day out, for a year. A dd who worked her butt off to save lives from CV while working with the virus in lab only to have so many people 'out there' deny, fight over masks, threaten/chastise people wearing masks, purposefully coughing on others--it's all been mind blowing. Another dd (a teacher) suffering the loss of her student's school year as most of them did not make good use of on-line learning in favor of slacking, some have been lost to suicide, and now having to deal with failing students who may not graduate...it's been a lot. I've been disappointed with many parts of our society lately.

But I realize that my disappointment is a continuation of the previous 4/5 years, but now with a poorly handled pandemic pounded on top of that. I think it is a point of reflection I need to ponder for a while as to why so many of my fellow citizens are blatantly disrespectful of what society actually means. The Me First/Me Only/All About Me mentality is truly perplexing to me, and disappointing.

So yes, I have been changed because of the pandemic.

I have to find ways within myself to emerge from pandemic lifestyle to integrating back in, with this knowledge that many I will interact with are not seemingly operating on the same level of conscientious respect for others, or even what used to be called minimal respect--common decency. I am troubled by this and frankly, don't really know how to proceed.

I don't think I have changed much. I cannot wait to travel again, go out with friends, see plays, invite people to dinner.

I may be addicted to Purell, though ;-)

I will probably avoid cooking for the rest of my life. The months of unrelenting food preparation drove me insane. My children and husband could not help much in the kitchen since they all had remote work to do with teams living in far flung time zones. (My children's schools kept to their schools regular time zones, but the students, who always have group projects to do, were all over the world, making coordinating meetings quite the challenge. I learned to keep time in GMT as a result of the pandemIc.)

My husband whose only shopping pre pandemic involved buying Lego sets for the boys, has developed a serious Amazon shopping habit. I hope he will shift back into his usual role of travel planner for us.

I had planned on traveling until I was 75 to parts of the world I have only seen in pictures once my husband died and things were settled using the money that had been going to nursing home charges for that. I refuse to be like one of my great aunts that traveled into her 80s with a paid companion.

Why stop at age 75? If you are healthy you should be able to continue traveling as long as you like, and not necessarily with a paid companion. When my mother was 88 she organized (without a travel agent) a trip to South America which included a cruise to Antarctica for herself and her boyfriend. I don't believe that one should impose an expiration date on any activity that they enjoy doing.

I cut my own hair now and some day hope to be good at it. Other than that and WFH 95% of the time nothing has changed much for me.

Yes. I've become more thankful for many of the things in my life. I am fortunate to be retired so I had a much easier choice than some to live without having to go to places that might have placed myself at higher risk. I was able to have food and shelter all while living safely. I developed new cooking skills, the fruits of which I will continue to enjoy.

It has given me additional respect and made me grateful for the many people who despite the risk to themselves went to work so that the rest of us might be safer.

There were some negative feelings, it made me wonder despite clear science, that some would not only flout recommendations, but in some cases just to make a point would go cough in the face of others.

Finally, I developed a huge admiration for the many families who conveyed all the love they had for each other at a distance, when they could not be together in person.

I've gained weight but other than that, no. I haven't been isolated. Had to work the whole time even though they could have let us work from home but chose not to. Had more people in my house last year than normally would be there. I can't wait to get back to watching movies in the theater.

I am more outgoing with strangers.

I have a renewed interest in cooking and trying new recipes. I'm now a bagel baker!

I kept up with exercising (walking) everyday throughout the pandemic. It's helped immensely.

Why stop at 75??? I have seen too many people who should have stopped doing things as they age but lack the understanding or someone to stand up to them telling them they are either endangering themselves or others or are no longer capable of doing things they once did to want to be one of "those". 75 is a good age to look at yourself as if you were looking at a stranger to see those things that should be given up or continued. One of those things to evaluate is can you walk as quickly as you did in your 50s. Most at about 75 can not. Why hold others up because you want to travel and can not keep up,

I have a friend who walked the 500 mile Camino de Santiago in Spain for the first time for his 75th birthday, carrying a backpack the entire way. He could outwalk many in their twenties. He repeated it for his 76th and 77th birthdays, and would have celebrated his 78th there too. He has tickets to travel to Spain to do it this year at age 79.

Certainly, one needs evaluate their level of fitness before embarking on any kind of travels, but there is no particular age that one needs to stop doing the things that they enjoy!

I could have written Susan's post. I am definitely a different person than I was 14 months ago. I wasn't what you'd call the life of the party but socialized some. Tonight I might eat my first meal at a restaurant, and that will only be if Panera has enough outdoor tables or otherwise no. The very few times I have entered a Homegoods or TJ's just to buy a present, I realized I've lost the desire to browse the stores as I used to do. I'm lucky to have a big house and yard so there is much to do here but I won't be going to movies, plays, or eating indoors for a long time and I will be wearing a mask always when shopping. >>Just found out all my local grocery stores are mandating masks so I won't feel like a freak.

I hope it isn't permanent, but I've gotten a lot less done this past year. I hate to disturb DH and DS when they are on work or school calls, zooms, or deeply involved in work. I can't get over that hump of just doing it anyway. Now that things have been opening up, maybe if I start making more noise, I can convince them to get space at the shared workspaces in town! On a scheduled basis, so I can plan ahead!

I don’t know if it’s the pandemic, my loss or a combo of both but I’ve changed for sure. I used to love to window shop, run errands and just be out and about. Now I hate to leave my house and put it off as much as possible. From the perspective of covid, I’m truly disappointed about some of the behaviors/choices I’ve witnessed. I no longer see people with the same optimism I used to. I’ve also, for the most part experienced covid and my loss alone and to my surprise, I don’t miss being around people at all. .

I used to cook a couple of times a week and thought I enjoyed it. Then I cooked every day because I had to, and it stopped being fun. I used to feel pretty neutral about spending an occasional weekend at a country house that my husband bought years before we met. Then we lived there for over a year and I found out that I really, really, intensely dislike being stuck out in the middle of nowhere. I used to, about once a day, pause, look around, and think about how lucky I am to live in NYC. Now I think about it constantly feel so grateful to be back home!

I have not gained weight, but things have softened and shifted with all sitting while working from home. I am now working on being less sedentary, making a point to walk to stores if possible.

No.

The HOA dues were raised....then all haites broke lose. A neighbor lady decided to make up a bunch of lies about our HOA . She said we paid the highest HOA dues in our county. The HOA paid $600K to a internet provider to cover our area, without our permission. We don't need new roads & they're getting them anyway. She was firing the management company. ect She got a lawyer, she's suing the HOA. Then people started calling each other names. Crazy. Stupid. Broke A$$. Little clicks of housewives formed telling people they are "low end". Everyone hates you.

I decided to have 'nothing' to do with the neighbors. A BIG change for me. It's like a disease spread through the neighborhood. So the pandemic made me less social. I really dislike people who think their better than someone because of their house, car....money. I've become less tolerant of shallow people.

Not really. One change may be that I find myself happier living in the moment than before. I see all the fear, angst and anger this pandemic has brought out in so many and I am grateful that I have learned to just let it go. I am better at walking away from the BS and not allowing it to harsh my mellow. I don't care to argue with people although I would still enjoy an honest debate and exchanges of information. But when minds are snapped shut, I don't waste my time and I don't really care. I choose happiness.

I find that I don't really miss much that I thought I might. I've eaten out a few times but I doubt we will eat out as much as I used to. I've been on incredible journey this year and I am happy and content. Looking ahead to the next adventure. Doors shut and others open. I used to say that, but now I truly believe. The universe spoke and I listened and I am better for it. Never did I think I would be having so much fun and such peace of mind in my 7th decade.

At 82, hubs and I know we are very compatible. We have been very creative in this past year. We had dance parties, dinner parties, volleyball competition. Only the two of us at our home. I am totally spoiled to home delivery and will continue. We did have the advantage of our family living two blocks from us. The grands were always riding their bikes and waving to us , we would meet in our yard and grands made “Miss Glenda” chocolate cakes for our neighbors In our outdoor kitchen. Thankful we have remained healthy . Very content just being with hubs.

Not speaking about anyone in particular but in general, I think that work obligations aside, the people whose lives have been quite affected include those whose lifestyles previously involved extensive and frequent travel and regular activities with others in a social sense. We've been isolated from friends and family members because of both caution concerning travel risks and also quarantine requirements of various destinations. I think those either inclined or accustomed to more solitary existences have been less affected.

No, As soon as something opened up in our adjoining state or our state that we normally did before, we went. If I remember correctly I believe only for 1 1/2 months last year the only thing we could do was shopping. We never stopped seeing our daughter and grands.

One of the good outcomes from the pandemic was it gave up the push to buy our camp in an area of tolerance. We always wanted one but the timing was never right. We were both retired and now have the time to use it.

Like to drink more frequent and order way too much fabric. I have been obsessed with sewing the last year.

Bunny, you make bagels now? Impressive. One of my sons has just started doing that, following Mark Strausman's (formerly of Fred's at Barney's and now Mark's Off Madison) videos. That is a major downside to the pandemic for me - my son's cooking as a hobby and my eating as entertainment.

terezosa, I loved reading about your mother's travels at 88. I too could not imagine cutting off any activity at 75. People that age are all thriving where I live. Of course, disease can strike anyone, and risks go up with age, but as a matter of course, I hope to be up and about right up until I am not anymore.

my patience for 'those who think they can tell me what to do' is over. and I refuse to play the passport game.

ETA: was forced to retire, and frankly after a year off. I can 'do' it.

Well, my first trip to a restaurant since March 6th, 2020 was stupid. I'll be going back to Thai takeout. We met our daughter and husband at our Panera as we used to do almost every Friday night. Even though everything is supposedly opened up, it's like the middle of the pandemic there. I had no intention of eating inside tonight or anytime in the near future, but there was no indoor dining. All their outside tables were there so we ordered and our food was bagged up like take out with plastic spoons and smaller plastic containers of salad and little cups of soup. I'm done. I'll eat in my own house with delicious takeout.

Yes I have changed. I am much more reluctant to go to work. I am in the middle of taking 6 weeks off and don't want to go back to work at the end of May.

This is the first time I have taken off such a big chunk of time. We walk the dogs as late in the evening as we want which is easier on my distrusting dog. I go to bed fairly late as a consequence and love that as well. I really enjoy all the walking and less stress.

I cry way more often for all the lost lives. I'm astonished and heartbroken at the numbers of people who are gone forever.

I know we're all such different people and we have so much trouble with agreeing with one another about anything but I wish we could have agreed to shut everything down and give everyone money to those who needed it so that they could have a break away from the danger too.

I know that somebody has/had to go to work delivering the food and somebody has to people the stores but there must be a way we could have done it more safely right from the beginning. I think about things like this a lot and I'm not really reflective generally about the past.

I did gain weight but I have almost exercised all of it off, more muscles now to boot.

Thankful I had already learned the life lesson to not live in fear, fear is a paralyzing, harmful emotion that we can control.

I hated being less able to socialize and hug my friends, thankful that this restriction is changing. I didn't allow restrictions to stop me from enjoying a wonderful summer vacation last year.

There were lots of deaths in the past year and NONE of them were from covid. So I was sad for those friends that lost family members. This trend will probably continue with all the delayed medical care.

Yes it has.

"Thankful I had already learned the life lesson to not live in fear, fear is a paralyzing, harmful emotion that we can control."

I don't know why you feel the need to demonize and constantly repeat incorrect assumptions about others whose views differed from the many curious things you've said.

Not at all. Other than I didn't go into Costco yesterday because of tighter restrictions causing a lineup that I wasn't willing to stand in, my life hasn't changed. I don't even notice people who don't wear a mask indoors (we're supposed to) and if they stand beside me, I don't care. I have mine on and what I do with me is all I care about. I am leaving my house in a few minutes to get my first Pfizer shot so I'm doing what I have to do to keep me safe. If others choose not to, that's not on me and none of my business. I have gained weight in the last 2 1/2 months I've been off work. I need to get back to daily working out again. But honestly, other than not having a job anymore, my life is exactly the same as it was pre-pandemic. We never went anywhere anyway. LOL The only change is that mask. Which I wear for the ten minutes I'm inside a store a couple times a week.

One of the good outcomes from the pandemic was it gave up the push to buy our camp in an area of tolerance.

Functionthenlook, I tried unsuccessfully to figure out what that means.

I think those either inclined or accustomed to more solitary existences have been less affected.

Elmer, that makes sense, and I felt the same way through the first few months of the pandemic. As an only child, I learned to amuse myself well, and as an adult living alone, the same is true. I'm good at solitude, and I thought at first it would be easier for me than most. And for those few months it probably was. But even before the pandemic arrived I'd been thinking I should do something about creating more opportunities to be with people. And then the pandemic struck, and I couldn't. It turned out that a year of solitude took much more of a toll than I'd ever imagined. I even look different.

I look different too, mainly because now I wear clothing that is more comfortable and not a wardrobe that I would have worn pre-pandemic when I volunteered, did clothing shopping, ate out, etc. Although I am an introvert, I realize now how much I miss having conversations and social contact. A big change is that I don't read as much as I used to, now that I get so much alone time. Formerly, it was such a luxury to sit down and be immersed in a book but now I find that spending time alone and reading is not as entertaining. I am much more picky in my reading choices - if it doesn't grab me early on in the book, then back it goes to the library!

Only thing that changed for me is I lost 17 pounds while furloughed

I miss conversations too. Sadly three or four of the people who were telephone friends because they lived far away, all died and I miss them all so much. On the trail yesterday I met a young couple on the small bridge and we talked for about 15 minutes. They were a sweet couple and it was so nice to have a conversation of length. I was amazed I could still do it.

One thing we've learned and experienced, and I hope others have too, is that there is a panoply of choices for video communications, all of which are incredibly easy and flexible given good internet connections. We have friends all over the friggin place, including abroad, with whom we've been in more contact than ever before since we can't visit them, as we normally do. We have regular sessions with friends and far flung family too, some multiple times a week. As individuals continue to get their shots, we will continue these sessions anyway because they provide more frequent and more enjoyable contact than visits or phone calls.

Just to be complete, in no particular order, we do video visits with WhatsApp, Apple's Facetime, Google Meet, Zoom, and Skype. I'm sure there are others. What we use depends on the location and preference of the other parties. The quality of all is about the same, usually excellent. All are free to get but a few have time limits. WhatApp, Facetime, and Skype do not. A friend in the East has a work-related Zoom account so that's "free" and unlimited for us to use.

I enjoy Zooming, and my Russian pen pals want to Skype with me, so I must get on that.

I forgot about the physical changes, maybe because I'd like to forget about them. My face looks older--a lot more than a year older--and my eyes look tired much of the time. My scoliosis is a lot worse, so I am more crooked, and in more pain. Maybe that's why my face has changed. And my posture! I think when we're around people we tend to stand up a little straighter, keep our shoulders back a little better. That's my theory anyway. Solitude has not been good for my posture.

As for my hair, which I've been cutting myself for 14 months, it looks pretty good. From the front.

I have a similar feeling to yeonnasky, I have grief for the friends lost; all the “normal” life events that didn’t get to happen (although I’m proud of my kids for making the best of it, clearly larger problems in a pandemic)... sadness for the fragility of life and not being able to grieve together. Thankful we have been employed; that the great majority of those we know who contracted covid, survived. Looking forward to hopefully seeing family soon.