Life before the pandemic: What did you take for granted?

MISHAWAKA, Ind. --- With Indiana, Eric Holcomb, laying out  his blueprint for having the state fully open by July, ABC 57 asked viewers what is something they took for granted before the Coronavirus pandemic. 

Lara Arielle Phillips spent Saturday afternoon walking her dogs at Central Park in Mishawaka. She, like many others, has adapted to social distancing guidelines.

"I’m a professor at the University of Notre Dame, so I’ve been teaching my students online, and I’ve been keeping up with my family online as well," said Phillips. 

Phillips is not the only person we spoke with whose social and professional life has been upended by stay at home orders. "I work for a large church, so that has been hard not being able to go in and have services and work with the kids that we work with," said Michelle Doty. 

As stay at home orders became the new normal, extending through April, there was one thing people we spoke with say they were missing the most: family.

"I miss my mom," said Meghan Murphy. "Visits with grandparents, that kind of stuff has been hard on the kids." 

"I definitely miss going to see my parents and have them visit me," said Doty. "They live up in Detroit so knowing that we can't go and see them has been a little bit hard. 

For Phillips, she says she also hopes she can do her part to help restart the local economy once the stay at home orders are lifted. "Well we really like the local restaurant scene here and hopefully we’ll be able to support them more once things go back to normal," said Phillips.