This is the third diary entry written by my teenage daughter. For a virtual history class assignment, students are asked to write about the experience of living through a pandemic. (You can find Volume 1 HERE! I’ll continue to post her entries in order throughout this crisis.)
Weeks of March 23 and March 30:
Here is the real start of life called quarantine. Spring Break is over, and the time when school should be starting again isn’t happening. I accepted that now I had to do whatever I could to stay busy, active, and safe as this disease was really starting to grow in the US. These weeks consisted of sleeping in way too long, completing at home track workouts, tanning in my backyard, taking naps with my dog, watching way too much Netflix, eating way too much junk food, staying up way too late, FaceTiming friends I haven’t seen in a while, taking long walks or bike rides with my family, completing puzzles, sitting in the hot tub, and just about any other thing you could do to pass the time at home. These first weeks had been fairly relaxing just getting to spend time at home with my family. I knew if it went on for much longer, these activities would get boring eventually. By the end of the weeks, the school board announced our date to start school again would be pushed back to April 24th.
Getting life paused is the weirdest feeling, especially if you don’t know when it can resume. I accepted this was the right decision, though. I understood I was very lucky in my situation- at home safe and healthy with my family. I am a person who likes knowing the facts and researching things happening. So, I had been watching the news, where I heard statistics of positive cases and deaths. These numbers were numbers you don’t want to hear. Seeing how packed hospitals were in some areas was sad. There were hospital tents being set up in parks, churches, convention centers, or just about any large area with equipment set up to treat patients. Hearing what people are going through makes me feel very blessed and less bored in a way. I am not bored with the things I have because I know many people wish they could even have that.
Another thing this pandemic has brought to my attention is what heroes health care workers are. All workers are all hands on deck to fight and flatten the curve. It is so encouraging to see a group of people so motivated to work during such a scary time.
sharing the stairs 