It all started last March 20th in the current year. I woke up to an email saying that the company I was working for is closing down until further notice. There were mixed emotions going through my head. Do I like it or not? I don’t know. I got up and went through my morning routine. By 9 oclock I find myself bored in my room. So I decided to go and use social media and there I found out that the situation we’re in right now is getting serious. At first I got scared because who isn’t? I told myself I have to get ready. I made a list for everything I need. Food, water, medicine, first aid and all that.I rushed to the store that same day and saw that all the
essential foods and supplies are being taken out some are even sold out. I still remember, I went to 4 different stores but still had no luck getting a bathroom tissue. I guess people are starting to panic. As days go by the situation hasn’t changed. People are locked in their houses. Not allowed to see, hug and kiss loved ones. Other places enforced curfews even other
countries are on lockdown. I don’t know how other people are managing it, all I know is getting used to it is hard and is really affecting everyone, physically, mentally and emotionally.
This pandemic really does a number on you. I lived in a crowded house with vulnerable kids. And I thought that this is not good as one of the members at the house still goes out everyday to go to work. Just imagine the risk of that. Mid April I decided to just go back to my parents house in Arizona and maybe wait it out until the situations get better. I spent a whole
two weeks inside the house, who knew that a thrill seeker like me who likes to go out can do that. My daily routine went from waking up and going to work to wake up just to sleep again. It was the first week of May when the company I was working for had reopened and is asking for us to go back. I prepared my things and headed back to San Diego just to find out that I was
being kicked out of the house I used to live in. Just when everything is going normal right? No. Lucky that I have a girlfriend who let me stay for a few days til I got my own apartment. I went back to work that same week and just after two months everything that I know is different now. Like people being separated kept six feet away from each other. You can’t even be with your dear friends at work. The month of June came and the pandemic was on its highest. I was really anticipating that all of this is gonna be over but it broke my heart again. June is my birth month and this year it was different. It was just sad that I couldn’t spend it with people who I am really close with, especially my family. Like every day since covid started, it became an ordinary day.
Today, as the pandemic is little bit contained. People are starting to go out but with more safety precautions. You can see stores ready and restocked with supplies that help us be safe and healthy. What made my heart happy is people are being united and not only they are eager to help slow the spread but they are also willing to help anyone who is in need during this
pandemic. For me, the pandemic did not only change the US but it changed the whole world. I just hope that everyone that is facing this right now will be strong till the end and doesn’t lose all their hopes ‘cause I know someday this “new normal” will soon be over.
Submitted by Louella Paradeza, San Diego County – San Diego.