“We had fears and doubts in the back of our minds about what would be best for our family. It was in Dubai we discovered there were a few families in our gated community who had been infected, and to add salt to the wound, we discovered my daughter and I had picked up lice. The situation was almost comical at that point.”
‘Should we take our kids to China with us, or drop them in the US?’ The mood on the plane was somber.’: Expats make it back to China to begin quarantine, ‘We’ve been forced to realize just how lucky we are’
‘To be fully honest, if I didn’t stay busy, I’d eat all of the quarantine snacks while standing in my kitchen staring at my phone.’: Quarantined mom urges ‘take it all one day at a time’
“Within a quick 24-hours, I became a full-time-working-stay-at-home-full-time-home-schooling-mom. I had no idea how it was all going to happen. Hell, I’d be happy with a general idea or suggestion of how this all will play out! I know we will figure it out, but I have a sneaking suspicion it’s going to be a lot of building the plane while we fly it. And I have to be okay with that.”
‘I’m going to throw up.’ He looked like an unfamiliar creature. Everything I expected went out the window.’: Woman gives birth to twin preemies at 24 weeks, ‘We knew this would be the greatest fight of our lives’
“A nurse said, ‘Do you want a picture?’ I abruptly said, ‘No.’ I was trying to erase the past 6 hours from my memory. I didn’t even know if my baby would survive. Why would I want a picture or anything that would make me feel attached to this little creature? Baby B was barely alive.”
‘She handed me a bag and said, ‘We want to thank you for what you’re doing. You and all truckers working hard to keep our supply lines open.’: Truck driver ‘touched’ by stranger’s act of kindness during pandemic
“I pulled my truck off to the rest area. I noticed two girls about 7-8 years old climb in the back of a pick-up and pull out cardboard signs. I couldn’t read the writing, but they were jumping around, waving them excitingly at every truck that passed. As I began to pull out, their mom came running towards me, waving her hands for me to stop. I left with a lump in my throat.”
‘Last night, I sat on the house steps after the kids were in bed. 10 minutes alone were the most ‘distant’ I actually was from anyone in the last 8 days.’: Mom of 6 credits exhausted parents, ‘We may be isolated, but we’re never alone’
“She would freak out when I left the room to go pee so I would just take her with me. This is why parents are so darn tired. And why it is even harder with social distancing. We may be isolated, but we’re never alone.”
‘Instead of seeing my son and potentially giving it to him, so he can give it to my parents, I just won’t see any of them.’: Single nurse mom says ‘I am doing my part, and I am now asking you do yours’
“I am a nurse at a Portland area Hospital. I rely heavily on my family to watch my son while I work my 12-hour shifts. But I am also so much more. I am a single mother to a 9-year-old boy. I am a daughter to a mother who has had asthma her entire life. No more hugs, no more kisses. I am making a sacrifice.”
‘I read a status from a fellow teacher. She’d called all 175 of her classroom students, talking directly with 150 of them. We will not give up.’: Teacher working from home says ‘not even global disease can stop our passion’
“I miss my kids. I miss seeing them light up when learning something new. I miss their laughter, conversation, varying personalities, and energy. This is not what I had in mind when I decided over 10 years ago to be a career teacher. We’ve combined powers of cafeteria staff, custodians, aides, and bus drivers to travel home-to-home delivering hot meals to our people. We will not give up.”
‘Do you have any jobs available?’ I was laid off from a great position at a great organization. I had to set aside my pride.’: Woman struggling to find work during pandemic gets second chance at Tesco, ‘No matter what job you work, you are winning!’
“The shelves of the supermarket were bare. I sat for 2 hours, without an appointment, just waiting to be seen. I didn’t even ask how much I would be paid. I was desperate. With the virus getting worse, I was hearing less and less from agencies. ‘Maybe I don’t need to do this?’ I had a great position at a great organization, but all that was gone now. I had to set aside my pride.”
‘My spouse is a hoarder. In our old house, we had a shed that was his, and his alone. I didn’t dare go in his ‘man cave.’ Now, his hoarding skills have made him a hero.’: Wife recounts how hoarding husband turns to hero
“One of the things he insisted on keeping were a couple boxes of masks. MASKS. Not just any mask, but military-grade, N-95 masks. His brother had given the masks to family members after saving them from a surplus sale at Camp Williams in Utah. There were thousands.”
‘My doctor said, ‘Your vitals are remarkable.’ He wouldn’t test me. I wasn’t going to take no for an answer.’: 22-year-old woman shares inside look at coronavirus after testing positive, ‘I want to bring awareness’
“I’m 22 years old and I tested positive for Covid-19. I wanted to be tested once the symptoms started like I should have been in the first place, but it was DIFFICULT.”