While everyone experienced the effects of the COVID 19 pandemic, we didn't all experience it the same way. Some of us were able to quickly and seamlessly lock down at home, completing our work via zoom, and trying to minimize the destabilizing nature of the transition. Others faced massive changes to their lives as their workplaces shut down, leaving them without a stable source of income, and so government programs stepped in to bolster the industries in which they worked. Still others struggled to manage the closure of their small businesses, as they're suddenly dammed up revenue streams were no longer available to pay down the loans they had taken out for equipment and other startup costs. And of course, many of us experienced serious illness, or had loved ones get sick. And for more than 1 million Americans, or about one in every 330, the pandemic would claim our lives. Now in 2023, with a couple of years of hindsight, it's still shocking and overwhelming to recount what we've been through together.