Jon, Saginaw

Story Teller: Alexa Weaver

Jon is a thirty-six year old resident of Saginaw, Michigan. He is also a husband and a father of two wonderful children. Jon and his wife, Chelsie, are both chiropractors and are the owners of Rise Chiropractic in Bay City, Michigan. His life changed drastically once the pandemic began. His children were no longer able to continue to go to school in person, so he and his wife had to make the decision to homeschool them and bring them to the office with them daily; this wasn’t an easy adjustment for the children either. Their business opened the week that lockdown began in Michigan, and it was quite the challenge. They didn’t know how things would play out. Would they have to close down their business the week they opened their doors? Would they have to limit hours? Jon described it as a “great unknown.” Jon was very fearful that his family, his patients or his employees would become infected with the virus. With this, they became very focused on cleaning and sanitization. Their top priority was safety. Jon and Chelsie had to begin wearing masks and gloves from the first day they opened their doors to the community. Rise Chiropractic was the first chiropractic office in the community to take this step, and this helped their business grow as patients felt safe in their office. The biggest thing Jon has gained from this pandemic is faith. Despite everything going on in the world, he is also very appreciative of the time the pandemic has given him with his family. Jon has become very knowledgeable on how to run a clean and sanitary business that is safe for anyone to come to during the pandemic. With this knowledge and gain also comes loss. Jon misses the simple things in life such as being able to shake peoples hand or give others a hug. He also misses the days when he was able to go to the movies with his family, or even go out in public without a mask. Things were very different this time last year. Being a chiropractor, while working on patients necks and faces, Jon has noticed a huge increase of sinus issues which may be caused by the masks. Even Jon himself has had trouble adjusting to our new lives of wearing masks daily. His job is very physical and it makes him feel nauseated at times, but despite this he is pushing through. He is amazed by the community’s ability to adapt to any situation, even something as crazy as an international health crisis. On the contrary, though,  it has also been a little disheartening to see how divided our country really is as a whole. The pandemic overall has taught Jon a great lesson: never forget how important the time you have with your loved ones really is, and never take anything for granted.