Boy how one year can change…just over a year ago I was honored to have a piece published in The British Weekly and the Brits in LA newsletter acknowledging my eigh-year anniversary in Los Angeles. With a glass of Californian red wine, I sat in my lush backyard looking up at the bright light of the moon through the silhouetted palms trees, prompting me to write a heartfelt reflection on my time in California with a ‘whimsical -nod’ to an always-missed Blighty. Here I sit in the same back yard just one year later with a strong lingering smell of smoke from the wildfires that continue to burn throughout California and on the Pacific Coast. There are no stars tonight or shining moon, just a sad feeling of what we have been living through since COVID took hold of all of our lives in March.
We just finished up a family Zoom call for Rosh Hashana, we should have all been together like every year but of course like most of us we have been on lockdown for months. This is now the norm; work, classes, doctor appointments, dinner parties all through the power of the internet, well thank goodness for that at least. We can all keep in visual contact with each other through these terribly isolating times. Tonight we recalled accounts of venturing out to the supermarket or to collect prescriptions describing the lengths we take to stay as safe as possible, with the very real and terrifying realization that we could at any time contract the virus which has destroyed so many lives.
So, I turn to my British friends, those of us who put ourselves, with everything on the line, to immigrate to the US and find a better life. Now things are now not quite like we ever imagined. How do we feel about our lives now? Many of us separated from our families in the UK for the foreseeable, not being able to visit due to visa issues, self-isolating rules, expensive flights and the travel nightmare itself with the high risks of contracting COVID. Or have any of us have literally thrown the towel in and returned to be with our loved ones, realizing that our dream has become a living nightmare? We will get through this of course, most of us inherently are survivors, as risk takers it works the other way too. However, what I feel most is that people are not talking about money, how are people really coping, many losing work for the foreseeable, most industries completely affected and although some of us were lucky enough to receive some government assistance, that is not applicable to all. We are all trying to remain positive, as that is in our very core existence as self-motivators and go-getters but even this may have us slightly floored as to the best laid plans for preservation and navigation. How are our mindsets coping? There are good days and bad days and undoubtedly and for some of us the odd glass of wine and a Pilates class is helping to keep our minds focused.
What an unbelievable and somewhat revolutionary 2020…COVID, BLM movement, the election, wildfires, could there be more to come…for sure this is not over yet, we will get to the other side, however one thing we can all be sure of is that time passes. Love and strength to all my fellow Brits out there, we need each other more than ever to weather this storm. I will check in with you this time next year, sitting in the same chair in the same yard with a wine in my hand and see what my 10-year anniversary in the US will look like. Please if you are able to vote….do. X
Jeanne Friedman, Ex-pat
