Michigan Family Adapts To Life During Coronavirus

ROCHESTER HILLS, MI — The fallout from the new coronavirus crisis has made routine celebrations difficult for Michiganders such as Elaine Cox and her family, but they have not have batted an eye. Instead, they have come up with unique ways to stay close but from a safe distance.

Cox has seen a spring break trip to Florida, her eldest granddaughter’s birthday and Easter celebrations all affected by precautionary measures implemented to combat the spread of the coronavirus.

For a family that gathers in large groups for such occasions, the start of 2020 hasn’t felt right.

“It’s sad, but we’ve always been close,” Cox told Patch in a phone interview Monday. “We’re all texting each other. We call each other. That’s how we’re staying in touch.

“Now we’re planning for when it’s over,” Cox continued. “My son said, ‘As soon as this is all done, we’ll have a barbecue and I’ll do all the cooking.’”

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Michigan on Monday reported more than 25,000 cases of the coronavirus and over 1,600 deaths. With nearly 2 million cases of the coronavirus reported around the world and almost 593,000 cases in the United States alone as of midday Tuesday, fears surrounding the virus are high.

For Cox, those fears first became real when she opted to cancel a trip to Siesta Key, Florida, due the outbreak. At first, Cox said she was holding out on the idea of canceling but thought better of it as additional cases of the coronavirus were reported in Florida.

The trip, which was in part a spring break trip for her 14-year-old granddaughter, would have to wait, as more Florida destinations opted to shut down amid coronavirus fears.

“I waited until the last minute to cancel and was calling the resort just to make sure everything was still good,” Cox said. “You can take a vacation at any time, so it’s not a big deal.”

The canceled trip was a sign of things to come for Cox. Her granddaughter, Kaitlyn, turned 26 on March 22, the day before Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed a statewide stay-at-home order. That executive order has since been extended to April 30.

Kaitlyn’s birthday was an unusual event, and especially unconventional compared to past birthday parties with balloons and the whole family gathered together. But it was a birthday she’ll likely never forget due to its abnormal circumstances: She and her fiance, Stephen Dudek, met up with Elaine outside a local restaurant and had dinner in the parking lot, at a safe distance in their respective cars

The idea was Elaine’s. The Rochester Hills resident said her neighbor is an employee at Loccino’s, a Troy restaurant. Speaking with the man, he had confessed the difficulties that small businesses were facing due to the lack of business caused by the stay-at-home order.

“I said to (Kaitlyn), ‘Why don’t we just meet at Loccino’s in the parking lot, just roll down the windows and we can talk back and forth,’” Elaine said. “She laughed at first when I first mentioned it to her, but we had such a good time.”

The birthday celebration — as peculiar as it was — almost didn’t happen. Kaitlyn and her family were out of the country a short time before fears of the coronavirus escalated in Michigan. The family was on a cruise near Puerto Rico, but the cruise was quickly rerouted to Florida when Puerto Rico began implementing its own precautionary measures.

They were able to make it back to Michigan, but some families in similar situations encountered delays that caused them to be temporarily stranded.

While the birthday celebration was small, the Easter holiday for the Cox family typically entails a large get-together of the entire family. This year was strikingly different, but Cox made sure to provide a holiday feel to the day for her family.

On Easter Sunday, she went door to door at her family’s homes, delivering baked goods and even a little bit of Easter candy. She left baskets of the items on their porches and went on her way.

“Then we just called each other,” Cox said with a laugh.

Such is life amid the coronavirus pandemic, although the biggest adjustment for Cox has been day-to-day life. She said her husband, Charles, attends VFW meetings, and she attends the auxiliary meetings. But the meetings haven’t happened in weeks, canceled for the safety of those who attend.

Another adjustment has been attending church. Cox goes to Woodside Bible Church in Troy, and while churches are exempt from penalty for hosting services despite Whitmer’s ban on large gatherings, Woodside Bible Church is one of many across the state that have opted to move services online out of caution.

“Watching it online is not the same. You don’t get that same feeling. But I watch it every week,” Cox said.

For now, church for the Cox family is viewed from their couch. Elaine Cox said she’s fine doing what she needs to do to ensure that she and her husband stay safe. A disabled veteran, Charles is Elaine’s main reason for adhering to safety recommendations relating to the coronavirus.

“I don’t want to bring it home to my husband,” she said. “I only go to the grocery store if I absolutely have to. I wanted to go to Meijer for fresh vegetables and he asked me, ‘Do you really think that’s safe?’ When would you have ever said that? It’s all too bizarre."