The New Normal

The new normal consists of masks. The new normal consists rushing to put hand sanitizer on after doing everyday things, touching doors, getting gas or getting groceries. I look back at my life eight months ago and find it weird I went anywhere without a mask on. Seeing pictures or videos of myself at a party or a football game arm to arm with other people seems like a lifetime ago.

A week prior to the whole world shutting down I was enjoying an early spring break with my family on a cruise ship. Before getting on the boat the only precautions taken were a survey that read along the lines of “Have you felt sick in the last 14 days”. We of course answered no and were on our way out of the country. I remember seeing one specific lady who wore gloves and a mask throughout the whole vacation; I thought she was being overdramatic. Now, I think the rest of us were being careless.

We got off the boat and came back to Michigan to continue our everyday lives. I went back to high school, my brothers back to college and my parents back to work. That was the week of March 1^st to the 8^th. And by the 12^th just a short four days later, we were in quarantine, or what we thought was just another week off. The cruise ship after ours stuck at sea unable to dock at the ports because they had shut down, talk about good timing. I am so thankful for that trip and for coming back healthy.

We should have been more cautious. I could go on and on about things COVID-19 took from me or members of my family as I’m sure everyone else could as well. During the lock down it became increasingly harder to find things to be happy/ excited about. I had lost the remainder of my senior year, the college experience at MSU I was looking forward to and numerous other things. But, I have always been quite an optimistic person, so here are some good things that came out of lock down, or at least for me; I have never been this close to my siblings in my life, I am able to do school from my bed, I don’t have to wake up early, time to myself, and I also picked up golf.

Although I still look back at life before the virus and miss it, I know it is waiting for us in due time. Now as we approach the winter, it is more important than ever to stay safe and healthy! Embrace the new normal and focus on the good things in life.