Storyteller: Sydney Isbell
Bethany is a wife, mother of three, and works from home as an AVP, loan operations manager. She says her main responsibilities are her children. She has always been a family person and strived when she was around those she loved. During this pandemic she gave birth to a baby boy, Abram, so he takes up most of her time. She also must help her two other children, who now have online school from home. She feels for the moms and dads who also have to do this with their children and has much respect for the teachers as well, especially during these times.
Although she adores this quality time with her house-hold family, she also misses the day-to-day human interaction that is impossible to have with this pandemic. Not only is she missing this interaction, but she also says her kids are deprived of it too. She hopes that in the future, she can go back to interacting with people as much as she used to. She believes that is something that all humans need and are missing right now during this pandemic.
With all these new normals being added to her life, like masks and such, she has started to notice the little things more when she does go out and interacts with people. The major thing is how much she relied on reading people’s lips while having a conversation. She says it’s much harder to hear and understand people that you are not used to talking to.
This pandemic has showed Bethany true appreciation for the people she is surrounded by. But what she mainly took from this is her deepened belief that we need to strive to always be slow to anger and quick to compassion. She is still learning with this but getting better every day.