Items
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PA
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2020-07-26
A COVID Wedding
John Lokka's Wedding, July 26, 2020, at the Gettysburg Hotel, Gettysburg, PA. My wedding was the final wedding at the Gettysburg Hotel until at least mid-Summer 2021. Due to COVID and Pennsylvania's response, the wedding date moved three times. Originally for June 20, we changed the date to September 6 when the initial lockdown period exceeded expectations. About three weeks prior to July 26, the hotel coordinator called us to explain there were no more public events after August 2. Gettysburg College, owners of the hotel, needed additional dorm room space to meet COVID distancing restrictions. They were converting the hotel in additional dorms and distance learning. When we agreed to host our wedding, the coordinator offered many amenities originally beyond our means. They offered us the Grand Ball room, a converted bank. About a week before the wedding, PA's Government Wolf issued new COVID restrictions due to a general uptick in cases. He limited indoor gatherings (weddings) to 25 people including service personnel. To meet the requirements, Gettysburg Hotel eliminated one person, and we uninvited two. Thankfully, two people decided not show. It was great time. Every one who attended needed to be there. The joyous atmosphere gave all a chance to forget their own troubles for a few hours. -
2020-06-01
Isolation Graduation
All of my life I have been dreaming of graduation. As a little girl, I would try to imagine what I would wear, how I would walk across the stage (when I was younger, I wanted to catwalk across our auditorium stage like a model – now that would just be embarrassing), what I would say in my valedictorian speech to part with my friends and teachers… and when that moment for those daydreams finally came, it was nothing like I had originally planned. What was once a thrilling time for all of the “lasts” turned into a last Zoom call, the last time logging into my high school Office account, the last email sent by my favorite teacher, and a last assignment turned in virtually. Not a senior prom, not a final picnic, not a fun-filled “skip day” (unless you count the days since March 13th) … I am not upset, I am not bitter, and I certainly do not dwell on what could have been. I understand that this was for our safety, and I would rather sacrifice those events than put myself or the people I love in a place where we could become ill. The day of graduation finally came after all of these years of waiting. What my school planned was very innovative, and I would choose this over a normal graduation any day. We filmed the speeches of the valedictorian and salutatorian, each student walking across the stage to receive their diploma from their family, compiled the clips into a video, and played it at our local drive-in. It was personalized for each student in our class of just sixty students. There were fireworks, gifts, and snacks for everyone in our class. I am not one to reminisce on my high school days. I was the person in my class that just wanted to leave our small town for bigger things. However, I find myself welling up with tears writing this. What my high school did for our graduation was so considerate and accommodating for the world we now live in. There is even a YouTube video of our graduation, online forever, which would have never happened under normal circumstances. I attached a link to it – my speech starts at 31:20 if you are interested.