I’m fully vaccinated, and I can’t wait to see a post-pandemic Hamilton

The only Hamilton I've ever really known has been under lockdown amid COVID-19.

I started at The Spectator last March, just as the pandemic was tightening its grip on most of the world.

As a reporter at a local newspaper, there is an unwritten expectation that you know the community in which you're working inside and out.

But what if everything happening within that community was stopped dead in its tracks? And it took more than a year to get it back up and running?

A few years back, I used to spend hours every weekend doing school work in what was then Pinecone Coffee, but is now Salty Espresso, on John Street South.

I enjoyed Ethiopian food at Wass, sipped fun cocktails at now-shuttered Two Black Sheep and devoured far too many tacos at The Mule. When live music was a thing, I saw Tokyo Police Club at The Casbah and Arkells at FirstOntario Centre.

I even did some thrifting at the Salvation Army when it was located a few doors down from Cheapies record store on King Street.

When I was offered a job at The Spectator late last February, I envisioned doing those things when I thought of my new life in Hamilton.

But as we all know, the virus had different plans.

Word of its spread into Canada began while I was still living in Saint John, N.B. That province's borders closed just days after I packed my car and drove back to southwestern Ontario - without goodbyes to colleagues and friends.

By the time I arrived at my childhood home in Bothwell, a tiny town in Chatham-Kent, much of the world had ground to a halt. I remember chatting with my editors about when we might return to the office.

I picked up my laptop on a grey day last March. I met two colleagues - Kate McCullough and J.P. Antonacci, who had also been hired during the pandemic's early days - from a distance as our computers were set up and we were sent on our way. I didn't meet another co-worker in person until at least mid-May, as I worked remotely from my father's office.

As some restrictions started to loosen, I moved to Hamilton and created what I would call a shell of a normal life. I've covered a few things from beyond the desk in my basement apartment, including protests, homicides and fires.

But beyond that, I haven't really seen Hamilton.

I've enjoyed only a handful of meals on a patio. I haven't attended any events outside of work - most of which is still virtual. Almost all of my interviews are conducted by phone or Zoom.

The sense of community I felt in Saint John has yet to materialize here. And the few friendships I've cultivated were made possible by social media or the roller rink at Pier 8, where I often skate. The fear of spreading COVID-19 has made forging deeper connections - with the city, and the people in it - difficult.

In spite of that, brighter days are ahead.

With reopening, and a vaccine rollout that has seemingly switched into high gear, my post-pandemic experience of Hamilton seems to be coming closer into view.

I will be fully vaccinated as of Wednesday at 8 p.m. - a big shout-out to Winterberry Medical in Stoney Creek for making that possible.

And the antibodies, despite not being visible to the eye, are inspiring nonetheless. They come with feelings of hope, gratitude, motivation and enthusiasm.

A perfect mix.

I'm looking forward to being able to see the city thriving again. Businesses bustling, communities gathering, people meeting in person and friends getting together for the first time in ages.

I'm excited to watch an indie film at The Playhouse, take in an exhibition at the Art Gallery of Hamilton and dance with friends at The Casbah. I want to be able to eat brunch with coworkers and catch a Ti-Cats game with pals.

I'm also selfishly stirred to return to the newsroom, an environment I've desperately missed despite not once working out of one in Hamilton.

But the thing for which I'm most excited is to get to know this city better - professionally, and personally.

Without a real lived experience of my city, I feel like I've missed out on some of the nuances that make a difference when it comes to reporting. I'm also very excited to meet all the people I've chatted with over the phone in the flesh - once we're OK to do that, of course.

I can't wait to get back out and interview people in their living rooms or spend an afternoon covering an in-person event.

I'm frothing at the mouth for a sense of normalcy.

But, it would be remiss of me not to acknowledge the issues in Hamilton that have been laid bare over the last year - that includes a housing crisis, and a lack of equity for racialized, LGBTQ and low-income residents.

These issues existed prior to the pandemic - community organizers and advocates have been sounding the alarm for years - but they were heightened by COVID-19.

When I say I want normal life" back, those are the parts that I hope do not follow us into the future - the new normal has to be different for the city's most vulnerable residents.

Haircuts, equity, gatherings, justice, dinner dates, safe housing and all.

Fallon Hewitt is a Hamilton-based reporter at The Spectator. Reach her via email: fhewitt@thespec.com