And they were 3

It's been 11 days of lockdown here in Madrid. Although the government did not officially announce it on March 14. We have been confined at home, only to go out for basics, like groceries, for work, to take your pets out. We cannot go out for walks, do exercise, and everything else that does not apply to the established State of Emergency protocols. Things one has always taken for granted have been stripped away by the government due to the circumstances, but it makes you think, doesn't it? All the countries one knows have authoritarian regimes or dictatorships live under these circumstances every day of their single lives. Stripped away from their freedoms and freedom of speech and free-thinking, we take things for granted in free countries. The current situation has imposed a social distancing that some experts have expressed concerns in the past, referring to the adverse effects of social networks and it's addiction to modern society. Now everybody is confined,

I was talking the other day with one of my old-time friends. We came together to Spain for work. He was recalling the time he started at the company he is still working for after 22 years!! Wow. Congratulations!! He was telling his students that when we started back in 1998, we were still handling stuff pretty manually. The fax was still a thing to send copies of documents and proof of payment. We were collecting payments over the phone with credit card data flying around. We would send documentation to clients via paper mail. Everything was still paper. We were a small team, we were all in our 20s, and we were happy. We were very good at what we did, and we had fun while doing it. So rare these days. Every time I hear people talking about work, they just complain and complain. I cherish the moments we laughed so hard only by looking at each other's faces. We were in the middle of the transition to electronic. The online business model was bubbling, and our role as salespe

The fear of dying has never been so much in my thoughts as it is now. The fear that something may happen, some kind of disease that will put you down. When you have kids, something changes inside of you. Your protective instincts increase by 10 fold, and it is exhausting, living in fear that something may happen to your kids. Since I've been dropping Olivia at kindergarten the guilt of leaving your kid, so little, so defenseless, crying, and clinching to my arms every time I had to leave her before going to work, it was the worst feeling! Ever! The teachers would tell me that after a while, she was already fine and happy playing with the other kids. With that idea, I left every morning feeling less guilty, less worried that some strangers would take care of your child for the next seven or 8 hours, but that tiny little tear on the corner of your eye is there. And as you move along the halls, you try to put on a straight face, but it doesn't matter, because everyone knows. And

Traveling to my hometown is somewhat traveling back in time.  I like to go for breakfast at a place right across the street from my parent's house.  They make the most buttery toasts you'll ever have.  The other thing is that I'll end up meeting someone from the past.  Either a friend, a neighbor, every single face is a page of the history of my past life.  The conversations are usually concise. Most people don't recognize me.  I sometimes have to remind them of who I am. It's normal, I've been away for 20 years and visit my hometown a few times a year. A lot of things have changed, the people have changed, they're older!  Some have passed away.  It's melancholic to come back. It also creates some temptation of coming back due to the familiarity, the sense of routine.  I was going through many old photos of me in my fourteens up until my nineteens when I realized that I had that part of my life completely blocked from my memories. There were moments tha