I quit my healthcare job to be a stay-at-home parent and my spouse works from home. Both of us are fully vaxxed and boosted. Our kids are too young but we’re looking forward to getting them protected too. We kept our parents and siblings (all retired or work from home) in our “bubble” so we’ve had regular visits with them throughout, and we all isolated (cancelled weekend visits) whenever any of us had a known exposure. We’ve met up with friends a handful of times, always outdoors, masked before the vaccine. We did attend a larger gathering with a dozen friends outdoors before omicron, but nothing like that since. Still wearing masks in stores, still acting like there’s a pandemic going on.

But mostly lucky. Lucky it wasn’t too bad in our city, lucky we can afford to live off one partner’s salary for a couple of years, lucky one of us works in a field that allows for telecommuting; lucky our extended family took it seriously, and lucky they live nearby so we could avoid travel. Lucky our kids are too young for public school where they won’t make sure everyone is masked. Lucky we live in a warm climate for outdoor meetups.

Luckier than another couple who’s been taking it more seriously than we have, but tested positive anyway, no idea where they got it. Luckier than my friend in another state that’s immune compromised and is still living without human interaction. Luckier than another friend who was never hospitalized, but still has brain fog from long covid. Luckier than my neighbor access the street, whose mother died from the virus last year before vaccines were available.