Central Oregon speaks: How did the pandemic change your life?

“This past pandemic year has taken me by the horns and thrown me around like a Radiohead song. But if I were to pick one thing that has changed for me a year after COVID-19, that would be how I pay attention. Before COVID-19, I didn’t pay much attention to anything other than myself, my paycheck, my music and Instagram.

Now, I'm noticing the risks folks around me are taking on a daily basis so I can have a Big Mac combo, no pickles extra cheese, soft 2-ply toilet paper and fresh radishes for my snacking pleasure. I'm paying more attention to our store clerks, fire and emergency services, local media, shelters and hospital workers etc. COVID-19 has sat me down and forcefully shown me how special and precious life is when we're paying attention.”

— Isaac Montoya, 47, Bend, Mosaic Medical community health worker 

​Spanish: “Antes de Covid, no prestaba mucha atención a nada más que a mí mismo, mi sueldo, mi música e Instagram. Ahora, me doy cuenta de los riesgos que las personas que me rodean están tomando a diario para poder comerme un combo big mac sin pepinillos, queso extra, papel higiénico suave de 2 capas y rábanos frescos para mi placer de picar. Estoy prestando más atención a los empleados de nuestra tienda, los servicios de bomberos y emergencias, los medios de comunicación locales, los albergues y los trabajadores del hospital, etc. Sabía que estaban allí antes, pero no les presté atención como ahora. Covid me ha sentado y me ha mostrado enérgicamente lo especial y preciosa que es la vida cuando prestamos atención.”

— Isaac Montoya, 47, Bend, Mosaic Medical community health worker 

“The pandemic made me slow down and realize how lucky I am to live in a multigenerational household. On the hardest days, I never doubted we wouldn't come out stronger because no matter what happens, I have all the support I could ask for at home."

— Amy Tatom, 41, Bend, family nurse practitioner at St. Charles Medical Group

“The truth is, the pandemic has made me more grateful than ever for my job. The practice of emergency medicine has a way of making one realize we can't take things for granted. The pandemic only amplifies this for me. It is a reminder of the need to hug my family everyday, to pause to appreciate what I have, to be grateful for the incredible community we all have here, and reminds me to be kind and forgiving toward others and myself.”

— Dr. Nathan Ansbaugh, 33, Bend, St. Charles Bend Emergency Department physician 

“COVID has changed everything about my life. My husband died in February and COVID-19 hit two weeks later. I felt like I was drowning and had to fight so hard to regain my breath. Trying to handle the financial stress of our business being forced to shut down on top of the grief of losing my husband and business partner was overwhelming. When we were forced to shut down again in November during our busiest time of the year it was devastating. I pray so hard every day that this year brings wellness and prosperity to our community.”

— Stefanie Nelson, 49, Bend, owner of Cyclebar in the Old Mill District 

“Do I have my mask with me? It’s something I never thought about before.”

— Star Todd, 40, Madras, youth services specialist at Jefferson County Library

“I couldn’t see my mom at Thanksgiving or Christmas, so that sucked.”

— Melissa Adams, 47, Bend 

“My relationship with time and perception of time has completely shifted. The days just seem to phase in and out without having a real boundary.”

— Maxwell Friedman, 17, Bend, junior at Bend High School

“I think COVID, as a pandemic itself, was terrible — but what I hated the most was the politics of it all. COVID just showed that we, as Americans, aren’t ready to fight together against a common cause.”

— Jose Pacheco, 42, Bend, nurse

“I have had to teach online and learn a whole host of new software and new interaction tools. And I had to learn (those tools) online, which was extremely challenging for someone born before the internet was a thing.”

— Amy Sabbadini, 45, Bend, history teacher at Bend High School

"I have been shown that there are NO time schedules to your life and that doors will remain open unless you close them yourself. I have realized that feeling lonely does not mean I am alone. My dearest friends have held me tight, and I know through thick and thin who is here for me."

— Michelle Mejaski, 49, Bend, choreographer, director and medium

“I was planning my retirement from Karen Bandy Design Jeweler, Ltd. before the pandemic hit. The going out of business sale was to start Mother’s Day 2020. I postponed it when we were locked down. When things partially opened up clients were calling in record numbers. It reinforced two things: I didn’t need a storefront, and people were eager to patronize local artists." 

— Karen Bandy, Bend, artist

“I miss attending and, more importantly, participating in live theater. I go to work each day, but communicate with clients through telehealth. I spend a lot of time alone. I read and write twice as much as before. I’m teaching a synchronous, online course to graduate students at Metropolitan State University in Minneapolis.”

— Richard Choate, 68, Redmond, clinical supervisor at BestCare Treatment Services in Madras

"The chaos of our business world and job market led me to take risks with entrepreneurship, building my dreams and trying to envision and work at creating a better world with more opportunity for myself and my generation. I came to realize that this too shall pass and that we will be more resilient, grateful, patient, and understanding once the world opens back anew."

— William Schoeffler, 22, Bend resident, founder of Instashowing website

“Well I just stayed hunkered down and stopped going to Band of Brothers a couple weeks before they really advised that, so I got to be with the family more…. I think I had a light case of the disease, but I pulled through it. I kind of hunkered down. Tried not to expose myself anymore than possible.”

— Dick Higgins, 99, Bend’s last surviving Pearl Harbor survivor who recovered from COVID-19

“I have a deeper understanding of the need for consistency for those I work with. In those first weeks, and for many months, services and public buildings shut down and for our diners experiencing homelessness, even their ‘living rooms’ and ‘bathrooms’ were therefore inaccessible to them. That Family Kitchen was able to stay open — albeit in a drastically different form — and never miss a meal was a comfort beyond the much-needed food. I won't forget that.”

— Donna Burklo, 57, Bend, program director at Family Kitchen in Bend

“I’m pregnant and I can’t take my husband to any of the appointments.”

— Onwyn Locke, 26, Bend

“The tough part for me was when friends who don't live here had a problem and I couldn’t get to them. That was the big one.”

— Betty Dickinson, 78, Bend

“My dog got way spoiled. I can’t even leave anymore. He’s so used to me being home.”

— Beverly Neun, 72, Bend

"I've had to adapt to not being able to travel internationally, and focus more on film projects that are local/within the states. With my career changing from competition based to media/film based the past few years, I am fortunate to be able to stay busy riding my bike and creating content instead of being dependent on results to keep my job.”

— Carson Storch, 27, Bend, freeride mountain biker

“The pandemic has made me appreciate even more the importance of friends and family. It has also made me not take everyday things for granted. I am now even more 'go with the flow and ready for plans to change at a moment’s notice.' As an event planner, we have learned new skills and systems of how to put on events safely during a pandemic." 

— Molly Kelley, 48, Bend, Mt. Bachelor Sports Education Foundation events director 

“I've been careful with my bubble and my world has definitely shrunk in terms of social activities. However, I've been reminded that creating my own fun is very achievable. I don't have to stray far from home to find incredible micro-adventures outside my backdoor, and having more time creates space for slowing down, figuring out creative ways to be social and adding new skills to my repertoire!"

— Zoe Roy, 33, Bend, chemist, amateur athlete

“A season of travel to races and running camps was interrupted so I was able to spend more time getting outdoors with the family on camping and backpacking trips instead. The lack of races allowed me to get in some fun adventures that I wouldn't normally get to do as well as explore more around Central Oregon during the summer months. I have really loved that it has forced us outside since we just don't have any indoor options.”

— Max King, 41, Bend, professional distance runner

"My business has exhausted its cash reserves and maxed out its ability to borrow from a traditional lender. The economic future of Bend Rock Gym and my retirement hang in the balance. As a result, I will be forced to postpone retirement for an additional five years. I'm 66 now and had hoped to retire completely at 70. Now that looks like 75 or later.”

— Jim Stone, 66, Bend, Bend Rock Gym owner

"Without the flow of tourist-based dollars into shopping centers like the Old Mill District, our brick and mortar shop was totally closed for over a month, unable to generate revenue during one of our most key seasons, cover the cost of our leased space, and jeopardized our ability to keep our staff of 12 full-time employees. Social-distancing restrictions interrupted our ability to host instructional clinics that typically energize our customer-base and drive sales." 

— Tye Krueger, 50, Bend, owner of Confluence Fly Shop

“It has made me thankful for all of my blessings, grateful for my family and friends, aware of the fragility of life, and the importance of love. I appreciate hearing the birds sing, the waves lap on the beach, the warm sun on my face, the smell of pine and flowers, and absorbing all the richness of the outdoors.”

— Jill Neal, Black Butte Ranch, artist

“The pandemic has redefined the word alone. I have never been a lonely person, however this past year, for the first time, I have experienced loneliness, suffocating loneliness, and from this emerged clarity of what is important to me.”

— Vanessa Ivey, 54, Bend, museum manager Deschutes Historical Society

"At some point, in March, I began just posting videos of myself on Facebook playing different songs. And then it became a daily ritual. I wanted to bring some joy to people through music. People really seemed to appreciate it and it also inspired and motivated me to learn songs that I had never played before … Clearly things will never be the same as they were. But this has been an excellent time for reflection, and learning what is really important. I'm going to continue posting songs every morning. I haven't made any money posting them — I do it simply for the love of music — and I'm going to keep making it something fun, real, and genuine and see where it leads me."

— Victor Johnson, 51, Bend, musician

"This pandemic has taken so many things from us. I myself have lost a family member to COVID-19. But, what COVID-19 has given me is a bit more hope for our community every time I think of how true that quote is and how our community has come together to respond to this disaster. I see the helpers every day and I am thankful for each and every one of them.”

— Molly Wells Darling, 48, Bend, Deschutes County Incident Management Team

“It closed my business, after realizing that my business could never be successful without groups of children playing cards together. Then my mom died and then my dad died. They each had been positive for COVID-19. Each had been living in an assisted care facility. I don’t know if COVID-19 was the cause of death for either of them, but it absolutely changed my life in that I was not able to be with them.”

— Barb Campbell, 57, Bend, city council member and former owner of the Japanese retail store Wabi Sabi 

"What really changed for me was … having to rethink my thinking as to how I saw technology, and repurposing technology to serve the needs of COVID-19…. There are different ways to run projects. Everything doesn't have to be perfect. It helped us find different ways to implement projects. Rather than following the standard way of thinking, we got innovative and creative to find solutions in response to the pandemic."

— Juan Olmeda, 42, Redmond, city of Bend IT manager in charge of transitioning public meetings to be online

"There is a real human element that often gets overlooked in the work we do. In our new social distancing age, it has been a real challenge to have meaningful personal connection when we are often limited to phone or video conferencing with victims. We truly miss not having as much face-to-face interaction with the public we serve.”

— Wade Whiting, 38, Crook County District Attorney

“The short answer is that it’s changed absolutely everything and absolutely nothing. In a way, nothing’s changed because the job is the same. We still have to respond to calls and help people and do our best for our community. But then, obviously, there’s been some major changes.”

— Ryan Tiktin, 39, Bend Police Department officer

“Personally, it’s affected my personal and professional life substantially. Having kids who aren’t able to go to school is awful and it’s been, frankly, traumatic for them and it sucks. On the professional side, it’s wholly changed our criminal justice system, making trials near-impossible and making face-to-face contact nearly impossible. It’s completely changed the landscape of our criminal justice system.”

— Shawn Kollie, 34, Bend defense attorney