One and 100: One pandemic uprooted our lives. One hundred stories tell its impact on the South.
March 2020 will long remain a marker in the lives of people old enough to remember where they were when the world shut down.
In those early weeks strangers across the globe could commiserate in the shared uncertainty over how the pandemic would unfold.
Nearly two years have passed, and all of our lives have changed.
We’ve endured the loss of jobs and income. We’ve had to learn to cope, to adjust, and to move on.
Now with the arrival of Omicron, a new and potentially dangerous COVID-19 variant, we find ourselves once again in a moment of uncertainty.
Wherever we stand, whatever we have faced or dealt with in the last two years, we can find comfort in knowing that we share at least part of that experience with someone in our country or in another corner of the globe.
Mary Williams
rural nurse practitioner“It’s different from a stranger, you’re more emotionally attached.”
Alexis Lemoine
bookstore manager"I socially distanced for my physical health and emotionally distanced for my mental."
Chikodi Demings
boutique and natural hair salon owner"That’s the funniest thing of all. The pandemic, it pushed me to figure out creative ways to make money.”
Phil Baggett
family farm owner“But when COVID started and large meat plants were shutting down, it’s people like us that consumers were turning to."
Monte Maddox
funeral home operational manager"Before COVID, we were doing seven to eight funerals in a week. Now, we’re doing seven to eight funerals in a day.”
Britton Patters
public works employee"Whenever the whole COVID thing hit and they had to split us all up."
Kristen Mullins
fifth-grade teacher“I think this year is probably more challenging because the expectation is ‘everything is normal,’ however, it’s not,”
Jaylen Flye-Sadler
aspiring professional football player“Either I’m going to let it break me, or I’m going to let it make me."
Leonard Cato
police officer“We were fortunate enough to have businesses reopen and not close."
David A. Hall
church bishop"People are not coming into the church. That's not normal."
Fábio Mariano
professional dancer"Artistically, it is a source of inspiration. Even though it’s a sad one.”
Fabia Hossain
volunteer at a nonprofit urban farm“I couldn’t figure out what I was going to do next. But I also, with COVID, took a step back.”
Courtney Pitre
rural pharmacist"My job is to be stability in a storm of misinformation and confusion."
Nick Saban
Alabama football coach"When you take something away, I think you have a much greater appreciation when you get it back."
Kim Weaver
high school volleyball coach"I wanted to reinforce the positive things in their lives and give them the tools to succeed not just on the court but in their lives."
Neil Price
college football radio analyst“To be out in a city street, where it’s kind of like a festival kind of atmosphere, this is a new thing for me.”
Eric Vernon
barbeque restaurant owner“I am doing everything at this point. We can just not find help."
Darryl Gilbert
soul food restaurant owner"A lot of businesses that shut down didn’t survive. It was incredibly stressful."
Jordan Lee
rural barbershop owner"I'll admit, I was one of those conspiracy theorists. I thought it was to get Trump out of office."
Steve Robinson
high school football coach"You cannot let it control you一you cannot let it determine how you are going to live your life.”
Dwayne Byrd
college football season ticket holder“Getting up to get a glass of water seemed like a Herculean task."
Greg Byrne
Alabama athletic director"The toughest part were those very early days when we had to tell the spring sports players and coaches to go home, the season was over."
Ternisha Smith
funeral director“It’s been quite, I’m not going to say difficult, but it’s been different.”
Bruce Pearl
Auburn basketball coach"My players, they didn't get that one shining moment in March. Tremendous anxiety for our players. Lot of anger, lot of tears.”
Brenda Cash
sign language interpreter"The intensity of my facial expression shows like ‘Oh this is something really serious, the numbers are going up… Oh, this is not good news...’ "
Dr. Scott Harris
state health officer"... the kind of response you get when you say you need to wear a mask and get vaccinated. It’s just stunning to me."
Matt Williams
high school football coach“Never take the things you love for granted.”
Tara Lentz & Martha Silva
nonprofit immigrant advocates"Inequalities and gaps in health service have been clear for years, but it was more remarkable during the pandemic."
Jimmy Carter & James Fischer
assisted living residents"It was hell for homeless people during COVID…. This place is a five-star hotel compared to some places I’ve been.”
Rev. Cathy Caldwell Hoop
Presbyterian minister"There are other times I've just had to say OK, they've asked me to do this funeral, nobody there will be masked, but...."
Chris May
in recovery amid the pandemic“You just get used to things being different. You don’t remember what it was like before."
Cobey Perrin
teacher in a hurricane-devastated city"Once everything’s over with and everything’s bulldozed down, it’s going to be a lot quieter on the bayou."
Kermit Davis
college basketball coach"It sure just makes you appreciate all the small stuff you never thought about."
Dr. Chris Klenck
college football team physician"This is hard to get. I ordered it in June (2020) and got it in April. That was a super exciting day."
Keeisha Kenon
college football fan“The pandemic has taught me to appreciate life, appreciate people.”
Martha Lupai
started small business during pandemic"It was so scary at first. But we were determined to serve the community.”
Stephen Mason
lead singer, barber and mascot“Everyone is frustrated that the world isn't what it once was.”
Jamica Hines
community college campus director"We were thrilled this fall when most of our classes shifted back to campus. The campus just felt alive.'
Jace Wade
fourth-grade football player“It wasn’t that bad, but I had to work through a lot of glitches and I feel like I lost a lot."
Kyle Rybczyk
nurse practitioner“It just turns into this cacophony of thoughts in your head that you don’t know what to do with."
Ramesh Peramsetty
physician“It’s my privilege to get this kind of opportunity to serve my people.”
Dan Forest
hairstylist"I suspect there are a couple of clients that did stop coming to me because of that, but you know what? In the greater good, I'm willing to make that sacrifice."
Kate Bush
student“It was getting to the point where I genuinely did not feel safe to be on campus."
Garrett Thomson
concert promoter"Now, it’s costing us more. It’s costing us our sanity. It’s costing us our finances. So, what is it worth?”
LeCrete Robinson Rhodes
legislative aide"I'm standing on a little tiny ball trying to balance all this with some semblance of my own life."
Paul Davis
widowed parent“I’m prospering. I feel like I have the world on my shoulders now.”
Savannah Haupt
high school soccer player“I was angry at everyone. I was mostly angry because I didn’t get COVID and my dad had it, both my younger sisters had it, and my mom got sick. But I didn’t.”
Jennifer Leigh
father died of COVID"It was just too hard that I couldn't be there with him when he finally passed."
Ben Neale
meat processing plant owner"It is a privilege to be of use in life and to customers. There is a great opportunity right now."
Heather Carroll
mother of two"Those first few weeks and months were incredibly difficult because no one knew."
Chrissy Schluterman
rural elementary school reading teacher"I find I lie awake at night thinking about how to make it smoother because it is different. There’s more work,"
Sylvester Hampton
food bank worker"I always say, 'This city was great to my family,' so I'm always telling them, 'You've got to reach back and help,'"
James and Sabrina Graves
boys basketball coach and a physician"It was one of the scariest things, not knowing what was going to happen. I was so scared for her."
Dr. Jo Hawkins-Jones
a teacher training future teachers"You couldn't focus on how you turn the news on, and you see all the bad things that have happened."
Henry Hollins
assistant high school football coach“I should've been dead, but I’m still here. I’m blessed."
Greg Johnson
real estate investor"I didn’t know if it was my last days or not when I had COVID, so now I make sure that I enjoy life, enjoy family."
Krishna Desai
immigration caseworker"COVID has been a struggle and has been a part of a lot of the decisions and sacrifices that have been made."
Anthony Perkins
high school referee“I was going to fight through whatever I had to fight through for this game because you never know if you’ll get that opportunity again.”
Tim Minniefield
veteran bus driver“The world’s got too much negativity in it. I’m one of the positive-minded people in it.”
Chase Romans
college marching band drum major"It was very hard because music is such an act of art where you have to be this close to someone, but we couldn't do that."
Joey Hassell
school district superintendent"We are a stronger team now in pandemic than we were pre-pandemic."
Bob Pegues
college football tailgate“(COVID) hasn’t crossed my mind. I’m fully vaccinated, what else can I do?"
Wrenne French
college athlete"Even if we weren't having the success that we were having right now, I still would have been glad that I came back, no matter what."
Joe Gaddis
high school football coach"When somebody makes a big play, I find myself hugging them when they come off the field. I don't give it a thought."
Rick Barnes
Tennessee basketball coach“I think it started feeling normal once the summer rolled around. It does feel normal."
Vic Scott
new restaurant owner"We’re going to champion through all of that to be able to share to our food and our experience with our customers."
Scott McDonald
college athletic director“It aged me I don’t know how many years. I never want to go through that again if I can help it.”
Lt. Cathy Miller
sheriff's deputy"With the pandemic, my job stayed the same, but it’s harder to get people into rehab."
Nelson Stewart
high school football coach"I think the hardest thing is that their high school experience last year was stunted in a lot of ways last year."
Cheryl Stevens
school cafeteria worker“This year is hectic. It seems like more work. There’s no leveling off. We very seldom get a break in between.”
Max Mitchell
college football player“I was really mad initially, because they pulled me off the practice field to tell me I’d been contact traced."
Mary Landry Hopkins
small business owner"It makes you less concerned about the finances and the tiny things in life and focus more on what’s real."
John Miller
record store owner"It’s all a challenge. But we’re still here and plan to be for a long time.”
Major Wright
football coach"We're going to move forward with the ones who are comfortable and whenever you're ready come on back."
Angela Smith
mass transit bus driver"Being a frontline worker and being exposed to so many people...it was a big concern."
Danquarian Fields
college football player"I decided then that I would grind even harder to get back to where I was."
Jeannie Coker
school nurse"We have tried the fist bumps and elbow touches. But sometimes the only thing that will work is a hug."
Lauren Martin
sheriff's office worker"She said ‘Mommy, you didn’t give me my hug.’ That hurt my heart.”
Ahkim Church
Alabama Shakespeare Festival“A lot of people have left the industry. I’ve lost people who were here for a number of years.”
James Barry
late-nigh doughnut shop baker"I think I’m gonna keep wearing the mask even after we don’t have to."
Yolanda Cox-Bey
realtor, mother of two"You're feeling the need to share more, include them more, because you just don't know, or what the time will bring."
Carolina Smith
nonprofit worker serving the unhoused"It was definitely scary at first, because we didn’t know anything [about COVID-19].”
Anthony Williams Jr.
gym sanitation worker"I’m the son of a pastor, and my granddad was a pastor as well. This is my way of [ministering to people].”
Sean Henry
professional sports team CEO"Our goal was always to provide the safest environment possible while trying to chase the biggest normalcy."
Lauren Bufferd
museum director"Once you get used to doing it, it just becomes kind of regular."
Sheila Brogdon
testing site coordinator“It’s a job that needs to be done and the community is in need, and I am here to serve."
Riverside Nashville church
Fall Revival"Why do you preach so loud? Maybe because I’m preaching the everlasting gospel!"
Tammi Dyce
daughter died of COVID"Nothing will ever be the same. We will grieve for the rest of our days."
Mike and Penny LaDouceur
NHL season ticket holdersLast season, the COVID-19 pandemic robbed the couple of casual nights spent watching their favorite hockey team with friends.
Amber Stewart
airport maintenance coordinator"I know how much is involved in cleaning this airport ... A clean airport is a safe and secure airport."
Abbey West
high school volleyball coach“It was so deflating. Every time I walked into the gym, another person was being quarantined."
Brian Stitt & Helen Crowley
COVID-19 supply coordinatorsBoth her depression and caffeine intake shot sky high, Crowley said.
Chip Kendall
high school football defensive coordinator"Things like brushing my teeth or taking a shower wore me out."
David Smith
hot sauce producer"We tried to focus on our work and not to think about anything bad happening."
Faith Morris
museum marketing officer"It's frustrating because we work so hard and so much planning goes into this, but this was the only safe way."
Chase Cunningham
lawyerIn the hubbub it was difficult to hear how defendants’ lives were changing.
– Developed by the USA TODAY NETWORK Storytelling Studio