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JOSH and DAVID, Lockdown Day 331
How has Covid-19 affected you?
It has been difficult for us as David hasn’t seen his Swiss family of for over a year now. He has missed births, milestone celebrations and annual family traditions. Josh’s Mum has been in ill health and care since 2014 and he has only been able to see her three times in a year. The last time included a 2m distance rule, full PPE and a strict 20min only time slot which was obviously very hard to manage. Josh was sad to have missed the funeral of two of the best uncles on the planet but thankful that they were not Covid deaths.
David found lockdown to be a welcome break from his normal hectic work schedule with a calculation that he has gained 60hrs a month just by not travelling into work every day or attending the numerous after work networking events.
Josh had several income streams and lost most of them, including his modelling and gardening jobs. Most of his regular gardens were accessible only through the house which was impossible during lockdown and many of his regulars have.
Oh and we got married! Legally with just 7 guests, in our converted garage/greenhouse, all self-catered and fully masked and bubbled, most strange but lots of fun and actually way less stressful that it would have been had it been the full wedding that we had planned for!
What lessons has Covid-19 taught you so far?
That it is very difficult to get bored, we have been too busy gardening, renovating the house and converting the garage, catching up on books, and sharing our old favourite past shows and music.
It has been a real eye-opening experience to hear and see the denialists on the news and people who just didn’t seem to care or be bothered about the Virus, especially on public transport or in the local park, it made us question if some people really cherished life or were too self-involved to care about others. However, the local homeless network, council support projects and community foodbanks in the area countered this negative emotional judgment often.
I think we learned things about each other that would have taken years in more normal circumstances and we have been so lucky that despite Covid hitting several close friends, we haven’t lost any friends or family.
Who do you live with?
Ziggy, Eddie and Dinsky (The Monsters), We had a house mate through the first lockdown, now it’s just Husband (Honor) and Husband (Obey)
What do you miss the most?
Our house comes close to Kings Cross Station in normal times and we miss having friends and family staying with us from different parts of the world, having people over for dinner and going over to friends for more of the same. We both miss the theatre, exhibitions, dance and dancing. As a mixed cultural couple whose relationship has always involved travel to and from parts of Europe to see family, biological and logical, it has been really strange to be bound to one small part of London.
Tell me a bit about your current situation
The kitchen and bathroom were to be renovated in Summer 2020 and we finally got started in January 2021, so we are living in dust and organised chaos and a temporary make do kitchen in the Living room. We also have our sash windows replaced, which is not ideal during coldest months of the year. Our wonderful neighbours have been providing us with homecooked meals and our bubble shares her shower with us, thank goodness! David is planning a LGBTQ+ local meetup group to launch as soon as everyone feels safe to meet in larger groups, and we are both working from home. David is relieved that his parents are getting the vaccine this week.