COVID-19 has affected almost everybody. Grocery stores running out of things, restaurants are closing and going out of business, and millions are losing jobs and applying for unemployment. Many things have changed for my family. I am missing out on things that I will want back, but at least I have found some ways to cope with everything that’s happening.

Right off the bat, during my spring break my mom cleared two desks at my house, using one for her and one for me. Now she works five feet away, answering calls and doing her usual work at home, which she likes because she says people don’t bother her here. My dad still goes into work and he’s busier than ever because he puts communications into hospitals. He and one other person are the only people who go into the office every day. My sister, who’s twenty, stays with her boyfriend because their family went to Texas for spring break and his mom got really sick when they got back. My dad let her come home once to get more clothes and that’s it.

The biggest thing that sucks for me is having my sixteenth birthday in the beginning of May. I most likely won’t get to spend time with my grandmas and grandpas or aunts and uncles. When you turn sixteen you have the opportunity to get one of the greatest presents of all: your license, your freedom, your transportation. That will not be happening now until the end of summer, probably, even though it was scheduled on my birthday.

I do a lot of stuff to cope with all this, including going on hikes and having bonfires while staying six feet away almost everyday with my friends who live in my neighborhood. Most of the day I’m outside playing basketball or ripsticking, but if I’m not, I’m usually found in my basement carving fishing lures that I can attempt to fish with for the summer.

I may have just told you my story, but we need everyone to come together and fight this virus. Come together figuratively though, because it wouldn’t be social distancing if we actually came together.

—Brock

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