There has been a great absence on this blog site. I apologize. Life got insane with COVID-19. I left Seattle in March of 2020 to go back home for some routine, personal appointments just as the scare increased to critical levels. Seattle was one of the first major cities in the US to be affected by COVID-19. As I was boarding my plane for home, I was alerted that someone who had tested positive had visited one of the buildings I would frequent for work. They were shutting down the building to non-essential staff.
Looking back, the reaction to close the building due to a confirmed case having visited the site shortly before they contracted COVID-19 seems absurd. Locking down travel and services for one or two confirmed cases seemed like overkill, but it was such an unknown virus that was very powerful.
On my flight home, I made sure to keep my distance from others, use hand sanitizer frequently, and I did not hug my family when I returned. I tried to keep isolated for a few days and visited with my doctor. Little did I know, I would not get to return to Seattle until May of 2020 for me to close up the corporate apartment. It was crazy traveling in a plane half full. Wearing masks all the time, restaurants I loved to visit now offering only take out. The patio on the roof being inaccessible. I would have loved to have one last look upon the waters of Elliott Bay and the Olympic Mountains.
Instead, I stay isolated in the apartment, doing the laundry that was in my closet before I left for Fargo, packing up my personal belongings, working with my teammate and former roommate at the apartment to decide what to do with the items purchased for the apartment by our company. I packaged up my belongings and had a few boxes shipped back to Fargo. I packed suitcases with my clothing, bedding, towels, and other items that I knew would be better to travel as checked luggage. It was sad to close that chapter in my life.
My friend Anna and her husband were kind enough to help me transport the boxes to the UPS store and it was nice to get to see her one last time before I left. I have not had the opportunity to return to Seattle. I greatly yearn to go back, but deep in my heart, I know it won’t be the same. The day I departed, protests started in the International District the night before, and that evening in Downtown Seattle. It was heartbreaking to see the destruction of areas where I had walked every day while I was there.
I am sure now the area has been restored. Tourism has probably picked up again to the same levels if not higher as we are all ready to get out and see the world again. Soon, I shall return. I have a lot of reunions I need to plan with some amazing people (Anne, Anna, Mathew, Matt, Kelsey, Iris, Herb…just to name a few). I hope to reserve some time for me to enjoy the places I loved to visit. Until then, life goes on as it always has. Soon I will share the new journey and adventures I have had. Stay tuned….
Sarah Roonie 