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Collected Item: “Adjusting to COVID”

Give your story a title.

Adjusting to COVID

What sort of object is this: text story, photograph, video, audio interview, screenshot, drawing, meme, etc.?

text

Tell us a story; share your experience. Describe what the object or story you've uploaded says about the pandemic, and/or why what you've submitted is important to you.

COVID-19 has taken the world by shock and disbelief. It affected everyone from around the globe to your local neighborhood. Fortunately, I never had COVID, but my life was flipped upside down and I’ve never experienced such a life changing event, while sharing the same struggles with people around the world. In a strange sense, we were separate but fighting together and it really gave me hope that we can overcome this pandemic. I work for a coffee shop and I remember after the hectic holidays, I took a vacation out to Las Vegas with my partner in January 2020. I heard about COVID back then on the news but it was relatively new and was mostly located in China. I wasn’t worried about it because I never thought it would end up like it is now. Around the end of January, COVID started to spread at a fast rate and the death tolls we’re climbing like nothing before. There was no vaccine and medical professionals around the world were struggling to combat the virus. At the same time, I fell ill with the flu. I checked myself in at a clinic and the waiting room was packed! Every single patient was sick with flu like symptoms and were waiting for a doctor. That’s when it really hit me. This was more serious than the flu. This was more than something you hear on the news. This was something that is happening now, at home. Thankfully, I just had the flu and recovered over the week. But even in that week, COVID became the center of attention and grew even more. Before I knew it, the governor of Illinois ordered a lock down and everything closed and everyone was quarantined at home unless you were an essential worker. My work closed for 2 and a half months. It felt like a long and slow home vacation. I stayed busy and my dogs really enjoyed my company at home. Overall, it was so shocking. My life was normal, going to work, hanging out with friends and even going on vacation. To now, everything is slowly opening back up. Mostly everyone is wearing masks but I’ve been more mindful because of Corona. I wash my hands every chance I get and I don’t go out, unless it’s for essentials or work. As much as I would like to travel, I know better than to endanger myself and the people around me. Together we can get through this and we’ll be back to normal in no time.

Use one-word hashtags (separated by commas) to describe your story. For example: Where did it originate? How does this object make you feel? How does this object relate to the pandemic?

#REL101

Who originally created this object? (If you created this object, such as photo, then put "self" here.)

Deb

Give this story a date.

2020-10-08
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