Frontline Essential Workers and Marriage



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Myrtle Alegado: When the world first heard about the global pandemic, I don’t think anyone was prepared for how much it would impact all of our lives. In our last episode, we met Sean and Vanessa, who talked about some of their struggles adapting to being newlyweds while also adjusting to all of the new government and public health restrictions. 



Now, imagine being newlyweds living in this time of pandemic and you’re both frontline workers. Today, let’s see how two newlywed frontline essential workers handle all of the pressures and stresses of their jobs. 



Welcome to Happy Life, a podcast brought to you by INC Media Audio, that aims to help newlyweds navigate through the first years of marriage. I’m Myrtle Alegado, and I’ve been married to my husband, Paul, since 1999. 



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Inspiration to make your marriage thrive, you’re listening to Happy Life.



In March of 2020, more than 3.9 billion people, or half of the world’s population, were asked to stay home by their governments to prevent the spread of the deadly COVID-19 virus. Thousands lost their jobs due to companies closing or establishments reducing hours of operations. But essential workers, most especially frontliners, like healthcare workers, were asked to keep working, even working overtime with increased risk of exposure to COVID-19. 



On our episode today, let’s welcome Lou and Ray Klipfel from Grand Rapids, Michigan. Hey there, Klipfels, and thanks for joining us today on Happy Life. 



Ray Klipfel: Hi Myrtle. 



Lou Klipfel: Hi Myrtle! How are you doing? Thank you so much for having us here.



Ray: Yeah, we’re really excited for this. 



Myrtle: Oh, we’re glad you took the time to join us today and talk about your experiences. I’m doing well, thanks for asking, and hope you are too. 



Lou: Yes, we’re doing really well here. It’s finally getting warmer where we are in Michigan, so we’re excited for that. 



Myrtle: Did you do anything interesting today? 



Ray: Yeah, we went for a hike over by the beach. Xena needed to get out of the house, so...



Lou: Xena is our little puppy, our dog.



Myrtle: I was just going to say, for those who don’t know… [laughs]



Lou: Yes. [laughs]



Myrtle: That’s nice. Like, you know, it’s always nice to be outdoors and to be able to just get that vitamin D from the sunshine.



Lou: It’s nice that we are able to spend some time with each other on the weekends so that we can go out and enjoy the outdoors. 



Myrtle: Oh absolutely. So, I mentioned you’re both frontline workers. Can you tell us a little bit about what your careers are? So, let’s start with Ray.



Ray: So, I’m active duty on the reserves. So you know, a full-time soldier. And, part of what I’ve gotta do is make sure that our equipment is up to par, it’s fully operational so that way in the event that an issue comes up, you know, our equipment is able to help us in completing our mission. The unit that I’m currently in is actually a water purification unit, and we actually got mobilized at the beginning of the COVID pandemic. Luckily, we didn’t have to really go anywhere at that time. But in the event that we are needed, we’re capable of providing thousands of gallons of purified water to the area that we’re deployed to.