24th March 2020 was the date of the first lockdown in England. We had no idea what we were in for. Suddenly we couldn’t go where we wanted, see who we wanted or buy what we wanted. We had been used to absolute freedom.
If we wanted to go somewhere, we went. We had various means of transport, car, bus, train or even walk as far as we wanted. We could go to see who we wanted or they could come to us. We never really appreciated that. We could meet them anywhere, our homes, our gardens, the cafe, shops or cinema. We could buy what we wanted where we wanted. On-line shopping was not ideal and we wanted to go to our high streets, to browse, meet friends, or even buy.
Living only nine miles from the border with Scotland I couldn’t see Scottish friends in the street or drive to their houses. Scotland really felt like another country.
Now we are thinking about the last day of the last lockdown. Even that is scary. How will we cope with crowds, how will we feel about driving as far as we want. The first day of the first lockdown to the last day of the last day of the last lockdown, what a lot of painful living has happened in between.