On the evening of January 21st, 2020, I did something that I had never done before and placed an Amazon order for 125 disposable surgical face masks. I had been monitoring the spread of COVID-19 for weeks and that was the date of the first reported case in the United States. Suddenly, it seemed like a prudent precaution.
I had forgotten that I placed the order until my wife opened the package a couple nights later. She was a bit surprised at the contents and suggested that I may be overreacting. I will never forget responding that “everything is an overreaction until it isn’t,” and of course, shortly thereafter, we found out that my concerns were well founded.
The COVID-19 pandemic has been dramatically life-altering for all of us. It has changed the fabric of our society, and for some, there will be no return to our previous normalcy even after the virus is eradicated.
For me personally, the worst part of the new normal has been the impact on my children. Last spring, our twins were in their final year of high school. As the pandemic gained strength and the days went by, we ticked off event after event that would be forever lost—proms, senior trips, and graduations, just to name a few. Not to mention, we experienced similar losses with our eighth grader as he finished middle school. The disappointment continued into the fall as they transitioned to high school and college. Because of the pandemic, so many pivotal moments were disrupted or even eliminated for safety reasons. Thankfully, our children seem less affected by it than we are as parents because they have no concept of what they are missing, but it is a sad situation, nonetheless.
Despite the challenges of the pandemic, I believe that there are also silver linings to be found for all of us. As a family, we also learned important lessons about sacrifice and helping others. In the early days, my wife was part of a major homemade mask-making effort, and the rest of us were her helpers. I look back fondly on the time we spent making and delivering thousands of masks. For me personally, the most significant silver lining was the opportunity to spend several months in close quarters with our twins before they left for college. All of our children have built character as they navigate the challenges of their new reality—a reality that, as parents, we can only imagine experiencing at their age.
"Generally speaking, we have so far weathered this storm with admirable resilience and unity."
Thankfully, our Schellman team has been fortunate during this time of crisis. Generally speaking, we have so far weathered this storm with admirable resilience and unity. Despite the new physical distance between us all, our team has remained strong and connected, both personally and professionally, as we pass through this unique period of history together. Thankfully, we all have our health, and the flexibility to remotely deliver the highest quality of work.
Those are blessings in themselves, but here at Schellman, we have also been fortunate in many other ways. I wanted to take a moment to share with you some of our other team members’ silver linings from 2020. Through the chaos of this year, I hope that some of our team’s stories of celebration, adaptation, and exploration remind us all that there is joy to be had.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from the Schellman leadership team.
All the best,
Chris Schellman
I remember when I found out that I was pregnant in October 2019—Kent and I were excited at the thought of introducing our newborn to our families in 2020. While this year has not been what many of us have envisioned, we have been fortunate enough to welcome a healthy baby girl and receive tons of support from not only family but friends and everyone at Schellman. Kaylee says thanks for her towel, book, and washcloths!
Vicky Au
SOC Practice Manager
In 2019, we started to plan our wedding, not knowing the days leading up to our special day would be so unprecedented. On March 7th, 2020, we said our vows alongside family and friends in Nassau, Bahamas. Although this year has presented the unusual, we remain steadfast in our love and faith!
Crystal Ferguson
Privacy Practice Senior Associate
My wife and I moved to Florida from Texas in late 2019 to be closer to our family as we began growing our own. On March 7th, 2020, we welcomed our son Landon into the world. While 2020 has been an interesting and difficult year, our son has made every moment amazing for us!
Chris Hull
Senior Application Developer
In my household, 2020 has become “the mother of creativity” year. My daughter, a high school senior, was slated to graduate and we were not going to let a pandemic ruin that. We created our own senior graduation and prom to celebrate her milestones, and on July 9th, she finally got to walk the stage to get her diploma. In the midst of all that, we also bought a new house--such a crazy experience during these strange times. We could not be happier.
Misty Jacusis
Lead Reporting Specialist
We had planned our big Indian wedding for 2020, and we were not going to let the crazy circumstances ruin all of our plans. On June 25th, we said “I do” with only our immediate families to witness. 2020 was a tough year, but we are excited to have started our life together and will hopefully have our intended wedding ceremony and celebrations in 2021!
Sagar Patel
SOC Practice Senior Associate
2020 was a year of adjustments. As if becoming first-time parents was not enough, the pandemic added a whole new wrinkle into the mix. However, I can safely say it was the best year of our lives.
Dan Robinson
SOC Practice Senior Associate
We moved to Denver! This was a pre-pandemic decision and executing during it was tough, but we are already loving it here. We are still getting settled (i.e., living among boxes), but we have gone out almost every weekend for some great hikes and we can’t wait to take our camper out in the spring.
Marci Womack
Federal Practice Manager
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