Life Before & During the COVID-19 Pandemic

   

   Before the COVID-19 Pandemic, I was traveling back and forth to Manhattan where I was recording my Podcast shows. I was also traveling to and from my full-time job as the Associate Director of Financial Aid. Before the COVID-19 outbreak, my co-host and I recorded our first podcast episode for Media Assassins. 

Our first guest was 2x Grammy Winning Producer, Easy Mo Bee. We were able to post some of the visual content on our Media Assassins YouTube channel and the audio is currently featured on Enemy Radio (via Live365) which serves as the official streaming platform of Public Enemy. Episodes can also be heard on Spotify, Anchor and Google Podcast. Easy Mo Bee spoke to us about music sampling, the song he produced for 2Pac and Biggie before their friendship ended in death and so much more. 

Before the quarantine happened, I enjoyed my productive life. I was attending workshops related to entrepreneurship, financial literacy and women empowerment. My daughter and I would have our girl’s day out to get our nails and feet done. I would take my kids to the park when the weather was nice and plan fun outings on the weekends when I wasn't filming or hosting events of my own. Life was so different before the spread of the Coronavirus. 

Last year, I went on a romantic dinner date with my fiance and had a little get together in Harlem to celebrate my birthday. This year, was all about virtual birthday parties with my family and close friends. We all downloaded the House Party app which allows you to basically have a group video chat with up to eight people and play trivia and quick draw games. These days it just seems like things are very far from normal. My original birthday plan was to spend four days and three nights in Miami. Once the spread of the virus, I had to quickly cancel my trip. 

   Let me go back a little to my grandmother's celebration of life. She lived to celebrate her 90th birthday and it was a huge milestone considering her health. My grandmother has seen her fair share of death, love and laughter. She died on September 30, 2019. Twenty-five days after her birthday, my grandmother died in her sleep. I was grateful for the way she died but it was still devastating and I am still dealing with her death. Losing a grandparent is like losing your biological parent. Most of the time if your biological parent is working full-time or going to school full-time, your caretaker is usually your grandparent. I was fortunate to have my grandmother in my life for thirty-six years. She was my last living grandparent. 

After losing my grandmother, I didn't think death could strike twice. Four months later, the world was awakened by the news of a helicopter crash. I remember waking up that morning on January 26, 2020 to my fiancé saying, “This can’t be true, this can’t be true. Not Kobe.” And I ran into the living room because his voice was so loud and I said, "What? What happened to Kobe?" He began to say, “This can’t be true because no one is reporting it.” I was thinking if he was going to say he's dead, it was a hoax like most of the celebrity deaths we come across on social media. To my surprise this was not a hoax and Kobe was died. Kobe, Gianna and seven others were killed in a helicopter accident. I’m thinking to myself, what else does the devil have planned because this hurts too much for it to be God’s plan. 

After the death of my grandmother and Kobe, I was a mess. What else could go wrong?...Did you have to ask. Well...a virus happened. The virus started in Wuhan, China in December 2019, the first confirmed case in the US was on Jan 21, 2020. The novel coronavirus was renamed on February 11, 2020, COVID-19 (Co stands for coronavirus, Vi stands for virus and the D stands for disease). The death and spread of COVID-19 seem to happen towards the end of February. It's a little ironic that it started to spread in February. Although I tested positive for the flu on Feb 12th, I had a number of symptoms that seemed like I had COVID-19. I was sick from February 10th until February 23rd (14 days). I had body aches, fever, trouble breathing, night sweats, diarrhea, loss of appetite and this cough that kept me up at night. I went back to work on February 24th, celebrated my 9th year anniversary on the 25th and got sick again and my job sent me home early on March 18th. Because of the cough, chest pain and runny nose, I went straight to urgent care. They gave me the flu test which came back negative and then I had the COVID test and had to wait 5 business days for the results. While I was there, the doctor gave me prescription medications for my cough and for a respiratory infection. 

When you are waiting for results that could alter your way of life, it seems like the longest wait known to mankind. Those 5 business days took so long, I think I called after 3 business days because I was so anxious and felt like the medication wasn't helping me. I called on the 5th day and the front desk receptionist says, "They will call you in 5-10 business days." At this point, I'm angry and frustrated and thinking, wow this is probably why people are dying. They are waiting for the results for so long that it can mean life or death and they may have less than 5-10 business days to live. Doctors have already said, you may not even show symptoms until 2-3 days after you have contracted the virus. But finally, on the 7th business day, I get the call I have been anxiously waiting for. My results are back and my test was negative for COVID-19. It was the happiest day but also the saddest day because the death toll was going up, my kids were still out of school, businesses were closing, the beauty salons were already shutdown and the days ahead were unpredictable. I still don't know what to expect for the future. And I'm pretty sure I've lost my mind a few times in this house. 

As most of you may or may not know, I was diagnosed back in 2013 with Postpartum Depression and Social Anxiety. I was prescribed a low dosage of Zoloft; I was taking the medication for a year and going to my therapist every other Friday. To me, depression is not something that comes and goes away forever. I believe that there could be certain triggers which may intensify your depression or become worse gradually if you don’t get treatment. I’ve had my moments and I may not have been very forthcoming to my family but I posted something recently on Facebook that gave others the opportunity to speak up about their quarantine experience and somehow it started a family and friends video group chat. We now use the house party app to check in with each other; it helps to see people even if you can't see them in person. 

   Life during the COVID-19 pandemic has been a roller-coaster ride like no other. We've had to practice social distancing, we've looked at people with the side eye...questioning who has the virus. Going to the grocery store these days has been somewhat of a trigger for me. Seeing everyone wearing face masks, rubber gloves and hoarding toilet tissue and paper towels has been difficult to witness. Schools are closed, bars and restaurants that don't have the drive thru option are closed and some states have issued a stay at home order. The economy is at an all time low, the Department of Labor and other news outlets are reporting that more than 6.6 million Americans have filed initial unemployment claims last week, bringing the total number of people who have filed for unemployment in the past three weeks to more than 16.7 million.   

Throughout all of this, I question how life is going to be after the COVID pandemic is over. Will things really going back to normal or will we still give each other the side eye? How will this affect our social mentality? Once the "non-essential" businesses (as determined by the government) open up, how will we know that it's okay not to practice social distancing? (hair salons, nail salons, movie theatre, churches, restaurants, nightclubs). I purchased a bike to get some sense of normalcy throughout this experience. Some times you may feel like you are suffocating because you are going through periods of entrapment. I don't know about you all but a car makes me feel confined unless I know I have some place to go. A bike makes me feel more free because there are no walls, no doors and I am at peace with the wind and also getting the exercise helps me clear my mind. With all the questions we may have and the answers we feel we aren't getting...only time can tell when this will all be over. All we can do now is listen to the professionals, pray, stay safe, build our immune system, check in with each other and have a lot more virtual interactions with family and friends.

Ride safely...