One year ago, almost to the day, our world turned upside down.

It’s been a terrible, scary, hopeless, sad and disappointing year for many. For me, personally, navigating the COVID-19 pandemic has been extremely stressful and difficult. But in the despair, there were moments of hope, joy and peace.

I’m one of those people who likes to reflect on a situation on milestone anniversaries. I think it’s important to look back on how our lives have changed, what we did well, what we didn’t do so well, and the implications for the future.

I’ll never forget where I was on March 10, 2020. I happened to be working from home that day (kind of prophetic) when I heard that there was a COVID-19 case at Northwestern Medicine Delnor Hospital. At first, I thought it was a rumor. After all, I was still naive to the fact that it could happen here in Kane County despite warnings from health experts that this virus would most likely hit every community in the U.S.

Once it was confirmed, I knew it was just the beginning. The next weeks were a blur with more cases being diagnosed. There was the cancellation of Chicago’s St. Patrick’s Day parade, St. Charles’ annual St. Patrick’s Day parade and sporting events at the high school, college and professional levels. There was the closure of Illinois schools and Gov. JB Pritzker’s stay-at-home order.

I remember hurrying to the grocery store the night of March 13, stocking up on essentials in a panic as shelves became bare. Life seemed surreal, and I was scared. Not so much about contracting the virus, but scared that life as we knew it might never return.

Eventually, things started to get better. Illinois began to slowly, carefully reopen. Vaccines are here, and I believe we’re close to the end of the pandemic. But what have we learned? Personally, I’ve learned how strong I am, and I bet many of you feel the same about yourselves and your families. There have been moments of great darkness over the past year, but simply surviving has been a victory to me.

We’ve seen some of the best in humanity as people came together to help neighbors and strangers. We’ve seen the best in our health care system, with doctors and nurses working tirelessly, trying to save as many lives as possible as they risked their own.

But life still isn’t back to normal, and I admit I’m suffering from COVID-19 fatigue. I’m not sure yet what has changed permanently (will we be wearing masks for the foreseeable future, will remote schooling be an option for local school districts and will we always need to social distance?), and if we’ll ever go back to how life was before March 2020. I don’t think anyone can answer those questions with any certainty right now.

What have you learned during this past year about yourself? About your community? How, if at all, are you marking the one-year anniversary of this horrible pandemic? How has your life permanently changed?

I’d love to hear from you, our readers. Please feel free to send your one-year later thoughts to editorial@kcchronicle.com. Your responses could be printed in a future story.