‘I just didn’t expect it to happen so soon’

In late-December of 2019, 81-year-old Washington resident Clyde Pearce shared what he thought the new decade would hold. One of his predictions was a global pandemic.

In response to questions from the Union, he wrote: 'Diseases once well on the way to being controlled or eliminated will morph into more drug resistant varieties. We could even see a new disease arise for which there is presently no cure, as HIV/AIDS emerged from seemingly nowhere in the early 1980s. A worldwide pandemic could see massive numbers of victims as global researchers work feverishly to find a cure.”

'I just didn't expect it to happen so soon,” Pearce said recently.

Now, the retired radiological health specialist is adapting to life during the coronavirus outbreak. Pearce has been on lockdown at the Halcyon House, an elderly living facility, with his wife since mid-March. Like other similar facilities, residents are encouraged to stay within the campus and visitor restrictions have been put in place. Residents and staff are also wearing masks, Pearce explained.

Always ahead of the curve, he began making preparations and stocking up on supplies even before the state began implementing mitigation tactics to slow the spread of the illness.

'When I heard about the virus in China, I thought, ‘we're going to get it here.' I didn't know it was going to be this bad,” Pearce said.

He also didn't know his prediction would be so spot-on. The world seems to be following what he wrote, almost to a T. And the Washington resident is now watching the world grapple with what seems to be a confounding illness.

'It's a little frightening. Even the leaders and people who are experts are working in the dark. We're all learning but it's a steep learning curve,” he added.

Pearce said he can't quite remember living through any circumstance like our current one, but pieces of the outbreak are familiar.

'The shortages and food stamps remind me a little of growing up during World War II,” Pearce said of seeing the frenzied panic purchases and grocery stores running out of items like toilet paper and frozen food items.

Otherwise, the experience is new to him as well.

'My wife cut my hair for the first time and I cut her hair. We bought clippers and I didn't do quite what she wanted it to have been but I was like ‘It'll be OK. It will grow out.' We're fortunate to have each other,” he said.

Like others following self-isolation recommendations, Pearce is feeling the absence of social interaction. The 81-year-old usually hosts Spanish and Japanese classes for other residents at Halcyon House and members of the broader community - gatherings that have been stopped.

'I miss it. Humans are social people. We definitely do need each other,” he said.

Now, instead of planning lessons, Pearce does research in his apartment, practices the violin and piano, goes for walks on the Halcyon House campus with his wife and gets more phone calls from his five children than he would in normal times.

Though there was an outbreak at the McCreedy Home, another facility just blocks away from Halcyon House, Pearce isn't overly concerned for himself. Mostly, he worries for those struggling with mental illness or those who may be economically impacted by the outbreak.

'For people having depression, I think one of the best cures is doing things for and with other people. It shifts the focus away from yourself, but you can't do that right now,” Pearce said. He said he's already heard stories of people taking their own lives due to losing their job and spoken to friends whose loved ones don't have their usual access to mental health care.

Still, Pearce is staying optimistic - for him, it's the only way forward.

'We'll get through somehow. They can be extremely difficult but we've got to maintain hope. There is a better side. Some of the best things in my life occurred after some of the worst things that happened to me,” he said.