Looking back on 2020, I realize that for about 6 months I lost all sense of normalcy in my life. It was the best of times and it was the worst of times as the great author Charles Dickens wrote in the novel, A Tale of Two Cities.
My life changed drastically in February, 2020. For the first time in 45 years, I was unemployed and it was by choice. I retired from a career in Information Technology, Cybersecurity. For the first time in my life, I did not have to go anywhere, be anywhere, or even get out of bed. I could do as I pleased and it was quite foreign to me. But I wasn’t going to sit on this life of no schedules, no demands and no connections, for very long.
You see, for me, it isn’t a good thing to be idle. I am someone who enjoys being busy. That doesn’t mean I didn’t sit still, I did and still do! What it does mean is that I refuse to stop growing in wisdom and knowledge, or experiences and exploration. My journey had to have adventure or I was sure I would one day die of boredom. I know this sounds a bit exaggerated. I have pushed through my whole life to reach a goal, rise to a challenge, serve in ways that keep me humble and in check with what God wants me to be – for others.
In March of 2020, the governor of the state of Ohio put the entire state in a 15 day quarantine. Who knew that this would turn into so much more than 15 days.
It was the day before my birthday. People received instructions on what they could do in those 15 days. Grocery shopping for necessities was allowed. However if you were a non-essential worker in your job, you were to stay home – work remotely. If this couldn’t be done, then you would be placed on furlough by your company until the quarantine was lifted. The streets became silent, the non-essential retail stores closed their doors, and the people sheltered in place within their homes.
Everyone who had to be out of their homes had to wear a mask. If you were having surgeries, they were delayed unless they were emergency life threatening types of emergencies. We couldn’t travel outside of the state and others couldn’t travel into the state. It was unprecedented times and yet, we sheltered in our homes and remained in a suspended state of trapped energy, halted by the Government.
It was out of this crisis – came the idea that I could help the frontline workers at hospitals and even medical offices. They were calling out that there was a shortage of PPE (personal protective equipment) and they were begging for people to help with making masks. The challenge of not being prepared for a world wide pandemic became a reality and websites and social media begin reaching out to all seamstresses. They were searching for sewists to come to the aid of their country. To be willing to sew masks by the 100’s in order to help those on the frontlines being exposed to the virus COVID – 19.
I was retired, after all. This could be a way to transition into retirement. So, I took on the task of joining two different social media pages on facebook. I had the group admins reaching out to see if I could sew, deliver, or help in postal service costs. I said I would be a sewist. I started small, taking orders for 50 at a time. Then the demand became so great… people were requesting 100’s at time and several requested large numbers of 1500. It was overwhelming. So I reached out to my sisters who liked sewing and some who wanted to learn. Within a few days I had 5 women committing to helping. Wait! What? People just wanted to serve. There were those that donated fabric, others who bought elastic, and others who offered to pay for postage. I was watching the heart of humanity stand in the gap to make a difference. I named the group “The Sewfisticated Sisters”. They were a force to be reckoned with and together with all those who also donated fabric and funds for shipping along with time as they did cutting and sorting supplies we totaled 1000’s of masks for schools and medical personnel.
The first facebook page I joined had requests up to 15,000 masks and it was panic time…
Within the first three months, I was over 1600 in sewing masks. So it forced me to reach out to the many. In May and June with the help of 5 women, We were able to meet multiple orders. The sisters were sewing like it was their full time job. Producing 100’s of masks per week and more. We were woman with a mission.
As I look back on 2020, I am in awe of the many women and men who helped to ease the burdens for all workers serving on the frontlines of the virus. It was more of a determination and sheer strength to not be a victim of the virus or the pandemic. A solid 7 months of sewing masks and meeting an ever increasing demand and no regrets! We chose others needs over our own and were a part of something greater than ourselves and it was a daily service of taking meals to nurses, as well as, making masks. Everyone in my circle used their talent to serve!
