Looking back on life the past six months, the quarantine time period seemed incredibly long, very challenging and extremely unique. I will admit that at first I was happy to have a break from school. But learning and attending virtual class in my PJs quickly became a bit gloomy. I’m fortunate to have a big family with 3 siblings but with that came more chaos and extreme amounts of family time. Outside of our home, it was stressful to hear all the gloom and doom in the world and not worry about the fate of our relatives and friends. It was an overwhelming 4 months for sure.
At some point I began to realize how lucky I was compared to other people. We ate plenty of food, played family games and were hooked on several new Netflix shows.
I helped my family deliver meals and groceries to a designated family in our town that was sick with the virus and no longer employed. Three days a week my siblings and I would get in the car with my mom and go to the local schools to pick up lunches. They would only give you as many as the number of kids in the car so if we all went we would receive 4 which was perfect for our designated family that also had 4 kids. We would deliver the lunches, and three times a week we would make and deliver dinner. Each time, I was amazed by this same little boy who would answer the door and retrieve the food. He couldn’t have been more than 5 years old and I’m not even sure if he ever even left that apartment during the quarantine period. It was eye opening for sure to see how so many live close together and with so little. Truly I had taken for granted all those things that were keeping us sane during this crazy time. Things like food, outdoor space, a yard, and each other.
I have realized more and more throughout this pandemic how lucky I am. I am grateful for many of those things I took for granted and will try to not do this in the future. I also hope we don’t have to live through a pandemic again in my lifetime.
Hope you all are healthy and safe,
Taylor J.
Maryland Student Ambassador