New closeness ‘just made us appreciate life so much more’
Challenging year brings many changes in ways people go about living their lives
As a challenging year comes to an end, the PostTribune re-interviewed the people profiled last year — ranging in age from their teens to their 90s — to see how the year 2020 has impacted their lives.
After a challenging year that brought change in so many areas, Ken Stalling said he is ready to embrace the New Year and whatever it may bring.
“2020 was just the beginning of a change in a lot of different areas: how we community with one another, how we do our shopping.
“It was one of those years. Although it went by pretty quickly, it was a challenging year. It really was one that I grew from,” Stalling, 56, said.
Growth comes from many different things. 2020 brought the tragedy of loss as friends
suffered from the coronavirus, some of them succumbing to the illness. The tragedy was magnified by the loss of so many lives across the country, he said.
“It was a challenging year,” the Gary resident said. “As a family, we spent a lot more time together. Everybody was kind of at home.”
The pandemic brought on months of working from home for Stalling and his wife, Pamela. His daughter, Ivorie, also was at home, studying for her master’s degree.
His youngest, Langston, a junior at Purdue University Northwest, also spent much time at home. He has two other adult children, Alyncia Bonner and Kenneth Jr., who are not living at home.
“All the four of us were there. We watched movies. We were respectful of each other’s time. It turned out to be great,” Stalling said.
Stalling said the family got used to being around each other and just kind of waited out the pandemic to keep themselves safe.
In the midst of all the change and tragedy brought on by the pandemic, that unexpected time with family was the “little light at the end of the tunnel” that helped them get through.
“It just made us appreciate life so much more,” Stalling said.
Stalling said from his perspective, the best thing anyone can do is just allow things to happen.
Stalling said that early in the year he experienced a happy change in life as he was promoted from reference librarian at the Gary Public Library to manager of the library’s John F. Kennedy branch. Shortly thereafter he was working from home as the library closed due to the pandemic.
Today the library’s main branch is open and the branch he manages offers curbside pickup two days a week. Stalling said he never dreamed he would get to the point the library, located in the Glen Park section of the city, would have to close its doors to residents.
“We want to serve the community. We had to close our doors to a section of Gary that really use our services,” Stalling said. “That was one hurt more than anything.”
He looks forward to some of the program additions on the horizon in the new year that will change how the library provides services and looks forward to a return to normal operations when the pandemic is finally wrestled under control.
“Nothing in a rush, but when it’s safe to continue,” he said, adding the library’s board have taken measures to keep both patrons and employees safe.
Change, whether with his job or in his personal life, can be a good a thing. People need something to shake things up so they realize just what they have, he said. For him, the pandemic did just that.
Stalling does not minimize the lives lost to COVID-19 and mourns the loss of those close to him — and those he did not know — to the virus. The virus even impacted his immediate family. When the family member was infected, Stalling said the person quarantined at home and did not pass the virus to other family members and has since recovered.
“It has helped me to grow. I look at life a whole lot different than before,” Stalling said. “We all have challenges. We just can’t go and get bent out of shape. We have to be prepared to deal with the unknown.
“COVID is one of those things that makes you be more appreciative of what you have, of the loved ones you have around. It helps you value life a whole lot more,” Stalling said.