Okay, so that might be a slightly misleading blog title – we weren’t in full lockdown a year ago.

This time last year, Nathan and I woke up at Formby Hall hotel after a gorgeous meal of steak and red wine the night before. We had a day in the spa, keeping our distance from other people, apart from when we had our couples massage where the attendants wore gloves as a precaution.

We had a swim, went in the sauna, read our books and went home in the afternoon. We then set up prayer stations in St Peter’s windows so people could see them from the outside. Then I spent the evening going over my notes for the next day when I had my vicar interview which, thankfully, wasn’t cancelled but we all sat far apart.

On my last birthday, church services were cancelled, tables were further apart in restaurants and we decided that we wouldn’t have our normal Mother’s Day afternoon tea on the Sunday, as a precaution. But we were still a couple of days off full lockdown, which began in earnest on 23rd.

Who would have thought, a year later, that I’d be opening presents over video call again, ordering a take away because we can’t go out and that tomorrow would be another day of online services? Looking back, I’m glad I couldn’t see things would be right now because I would have completely freaked out.

But still, it has been a lovely birthday. The best thing about the last year for me has been the amount of time I’ve spent with Nathan. Today we have been watching Outnumbered, trying to imagine what our lives will be like in a few months time. We’ve had a fry up, a chinese and we went out for a Starbucks. In many ways, I have grown used to this quiet way of life and in many ways it is lovely.

But I am hoping that on my 29th birthday I will be able to celebrate with the rest of my family and friends in person. I hope that I will have a healthy and happy 9(ish) month old. I hope that lockdown will be a memory, rather than a reality. And I especially hope that we will all have learned to appreciate each other and the world around us like we never did a year ago.