Friday will mark the one-year anniversary of local health officials confirming Christian County’s first case of COVID-19. Since then, 6,380 county residents have tested positive for the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, while dozens have been hospitalized with the virus and 83 people have died.
Countless others have lost jobs or seen their income decline. Many of you have spent more time in your homes in one year than you ever imagined was possible. Parents have set up virtual classrooms in their kitchens. Some offices remain closed and co-workers continue to meet through video images on their computer screens.
Several of Hoptown Chronicle’s readers responded this week to our request for your personal stories about how the pandemic affected you in the past year. I hope that in the next couple of days more of you will take a few minutes to share your experiences by emailing me.
What have you missed? What have you learned? In the next five or 10 years, what do you think you’ll still be doing differently because of the pandemic?
Did the isolation create an opportunity for personal growth or new creative pursuits? Did you learn new skills? Did you become a better cook? Did you learn to paint?
What made you laugh? Or cry? What got on your last nerve?
Who did you help, and who helped you?
Did you adopt a dog or cat? Buy a goldfish?
Did you binge-watch a TV show that was the best thing you’ve ever seen? Did you meet neighbors for the first time, or did you make new friends? Did you reconnect with old friends?
If you’ve been vaccinated, tell us about that. Did you feel relief or gratitude? Were you anxious?
Did you lose a friend? Did your family lose an elder?
I can relate personally to most of these questions, which is why I asked them. But what did I forget? Tell me about that, too.
We’ll be compiling your responses in a collection of vignettes that we hope sheds light on Hopkinsville’s unique experience during the pandemic.
Jennifer P. Brown is co-founder, publisher and editor of Hoptown Chronicle. You can reach her at editor@hoptownchronicle.org. Brown was a reporter and editor at the Kentucky New Era, where she worked for 30 years. She is a co-chair of the national advisory board to the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, governing board past president for the Kentucky Historical Society, and co-founder of the Kentucky Open Government Coalition. She serves on the Hopkinsville History Foundation's board.
