Additional Needs

What Will the Future Look Like?

Posted by Emma Louise Cheetham on 1st June 2020 Additional Needs, Advice & Support, Disabilities

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We’re over two thirds of the way through our anticipated 12 weeks of shielding. I don’t doubt it will have to be extended beyond the end of June for us, as the virus still rips through communities without prejudice.

Things are improving albeit very slowly. The world is still turning but the life we once knew has been ripped away from us and replaced with the fear that being too close to somebody in the street could potentially infect us with a deadly virus that at present has no known treatment, vaccine or cure.

I don’t know about you but whilst I’ve found this period of isolation from the big wide world and those that I love extremely challenging, exhausting and lonely, it’s not been as bad as it could’ve been. Thankfully I’ve managed to protect my son throughout this terrifying time, my family and those closest to me have luckily not become poorly and maybe the biggest relief of all is that I or nobody close to me has suffered the loss of a loved one due to this deadly virus.

I’ve enjoyed the time I’ve spent with Jaxon.

It’s tested me beyond my limits on more occasions than I’d care to admit, but there have been many days I’ve woken up, thankful that the only thing I need to worry about that day is keeping him happy. I’ve not had to run around getting us both ready, tackling the rush hour traffic to get us to an appointment on time. I’ve been able to sit in the moment and just enjoy being here with him.

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve missed some of his appointments and I’ve worried about the long-term effects missing so much therapy will have on him. I’ve struggled without the team of fantastic people that usually surround us, giving us endless support. I’ve missed the respite I receive from Jaxon’s dad and my parents as I made the decision in the beginning to go it alone so to protect him as best as I possibly could. I’ve risked my own physical and mental health to keep Jaxon as safe and well as possible. I, like so many others all over the country have made incredible sacrifices throughout this difficult period.

So, as the world begins to recover, as the lockdown measures begin to ease, as shops and businesses start to reopen and society attempts to return to how it once was, I find myself asking what will the future look like?

I’d love to think that a year from now a vaccine will have been found and this will all be one great big nightmare that has been retired to the history books. We’ll still talk about it. “Remember this time last year when we couldn’t leave the house because of Coronavirus?” I imagine we’ll talk about it for years and years to come. But the world will be safe. People will be safe. At least safer than they have been for the past three months. We’ll be able to hug our friends and family without the fear that we could unknowingly make them so poorly they could end up in intensive care or worse. We won’t have to worry if somebody brushes past us in the street or leans over us in the supermarket. We won’t have to wear masks just to take a trip to the shop or get on public transport.

I’m generally quite a positive person.

I am a firm believer that this period in our lives will change us, humanity, for the better. We will value the little things and realise that the material things don’t matter half as much as we once believed they did. We will cherish the people we have in our lives, we’ll admire the nature we’re surrounded by on a much deeper level. We’ll have a greater appreciation for the things we once took for granted.

A global pandemic that has caused the world to close its doors for months is quite possibly the biggest challenge that collectively, we’ll ever face in our lifetime. At least I hope so anyway. The world probably won’t look the way we remember for a very, very, long time.

But the human race is strong, determined and stoic. We are resilient and we will adapt to the new normal, whatever that may look like, as the world opens its doors once again.