Martin Family Covid 19 Days

Nancy Martin

May 8, 2020

We are doing as well as can be expected, and for that we consider ourselves very lucky. We have pay cheques coming in and are healthy. Our children have been very resilient and amuse themselves nicely each day. Daryl just complete this Executive MBA at Ivey weeks before this started, so he is loving having all this free time to exercise and catch up on tv shows, etc. I am having the hardest time amusing myself and filling my days.

Husband, 42, children ages 9 and 11.

We are all getting on each others nerves at times, but keeping busy.
Daryl is working for Canada Life from the basement. He is fairly busy and his job is secure so we are very grateful for that. He is currently trying to run every street in London, so is going on 10km+ runs several times a week. The children, Grace and Poppy, are doing their school work from home each morning and then play on their iPads, do crafts, play in the garden or amuse themselves with Lego, etc. I am having the hardest time - I have taken up baking sourdough bread with some success. I try new recipes and have spent time in the garden. I was working from home until this week when my job suddenly ended when the teacher I was in for returned to work early.

Daryl's job is secure and he is working from home from our basement. I was teaching Kindergarten from our bedroom, which was less than ideal. I missed my students terribly, and find the days to be so very quiet. The biggest loss was the cancellation of Daryl's EMBA Convocation - he was really looking forward to the celebration with his classmates.

I am concerned by the anti-vaccination minded in our society. The conspiracy theorists spreading misinformation is troubling. I am saddened for families that had incomes that they suddenly lost, and I worry how long people will be without work. We also worry for our aging parents, that if they got sick it would take their lives.

We have a close family friend in Jakarta who got the virus and died. It was very sudden and he went very quickly. He was in his early 60s. He was the income earner for his family, and they had suffered a financial blow from an Earthquake last year that they were still recovering financially from.

I am impressed with Justin Trudeau, I can't fault his response or that of the federal government. I think they are doing the best they can. I'm not a fan of Doug Ford, and I think he mismanaged it and is trying to do catch up. I'm relieved we don't live in the US, and have Donald Trump as a leader as I honestly worry for the American people.

I think we have a lot of challenges ahead, and suspect it will be longer and bumpier than a lot of people think it will be. I can't imagine how we will return to schools, or a lot of work places. I worry the next flu season will see a spike again. I worry that in several months people will start to not be able to afford their homes or car payments, etc.

I think our economy will suffer for several years. I think there will be a large number of people who don't have jobs to return to as companies scale back and/or clear out staff. I think we will be forced to social distance and limit social interactions to some degree for quite some time.

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