46 Days

46 days. That’s the amount of time that passes each year between Ash Wednesday and Easter. This Lent was definitely one that I will never forget.

I’m not here to talk about Lent, I’m just using it as a guide. Ash Wednesday was February 26, and that was the day that I attended a preview of the EPCOT International Flower & Garden Festival. This event was small compared to most others. A group of us went into the Festival kitchens backstage, and we sampled some of the dishes and saw some of the merchandise. The mood was lively, it was a fun event! I looked forward to returning to the festival, which was to start on March 4.

On March 2 I was part of a hosted group that was invited to dine at California Grill. We had a fantastic meal and great conversation. The evening ended with seeing Happily Ever After in the distance. It was beautiful.

March 3 was quite the day. I covered a huge event that day. We saw a preview of Drawn to Life at Disney Springs (we didn’t see the whole show), then we headed over to Disney’s Hollywood Studios to preview Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway. I instantly fell in love with the new ride. There was talk of Coronavirus, but no mention of it affecting the parks. There was no such thing as “social distancing”, and there were plenty of handshakes and hugs to go around.

The following day my daughter and I returned to Disney’s Hollywood Studios. We had FastPass+ for Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway, and I couldn’t wait to find out what she thought. We ordered Tochos for lunch, and had a fun day.

On March 6 I flew to New England. My mom’s birthday is March 7, and my dad’s is March 14, so we had a double party planned. I saw more hand sanitizer at the airport, but the lines were still long, and my flight was full. There were maybe three reported cases of Coronavirus in Florida at the time, but none of them were anywhere near Central Florida. They could all be traced to travel overseas.

We had a great time at my parents’ birthdays party. There were four generations there! My niece flew in from California, my parents weren’t expecting her. March 7, 2020 is an evening that I will forever treasure in my heart, it was such a nice time with family. Talk of Coronavirus on the news was growing, and some major events had been canceled as a precaution.

I flew back to Florida on March 9. Things were starting to feel different. I woke up to an email that my plane had been changed to a smaller one, and if I was willing to give up my seat I could get a very generous flight voucher. I was able to find another cheap flight, so I took them up on the offer. That meant that I had a couple of extra hours with my parents as well. The flight home was strange. The plane was maybe 1/3 full. People were wiping down the seats and anything that they might touch. Everyone was starting to take things more seriously.

I heard a lot about the extra precautions that Walt Disney World was taking, so on March 12 I went to Disney’s Hollywood Studios. The park was packed, but there were extra hand washing stations and Purell dispensers. The words “social distancing” were starting to be used, but at the park that day no one was keeping their distance. People worried that Walt Disney World would close, but I don’t think that most of us expected it to happen. I’ll admit that I didn’t think that it would happen. I was obviously wrong, because it was announced later that same day. Walt Disney World was going to close at the end of the day on March 15, and would be closed until the end of the month. The hotels and Disney Springs would follow a few days later.

I did stop by EPCOT on March 15 because I wanted to see the topiaries. The park wasn’t packed, but it wasn’t empty either. People were avoiding others, and there was a “heaviness” (for lack of a better way to describe it) over the park that I had never experienced before.

Of course we all know the rest of the story. During the same 46 days the closure extended until “further notice”. Orange and Osceola Counties, the two counties that Walt Disney World is in, both issued stay-at-home orders, with the entire state of Florida to follow a few days later.

Easter Sunday was still a day filled with hope. We attended church twice, the Sunrise Service on the radio and then our regular service on Facebook live. Instead of going out like we usually do for Easter dinner, we had a cookout. I called my parents, who are safe and healthy, and we watched Disney+. It wasn’t a normal Easter for us, but it was one that I will never forget.

All of this makes me wonder what will happen in the next 46 days. That will be May 29. Today is the first day of a face-covering order in Osceola County, and Orange County is considering doing the same thing. Health care workers and grocery store employees, as well as other emergency personnel, are finally regarded as the heroes that they’ve always been. I hope that continues once this is finally over. Could things have turned around some by May 29, and we clearly see a light at the end of the tunnel? Seeing how much can change in 46 days, I hope that’s a possibility.