Little Things Happen
In March, 2020 was when the world became chaotic. New York, particularly, areas of
Southeast, Queens were greatly affected. Hospitals were overflowing with patients, my school,
along with every school in the state, shut their doors. Refrigerated morgue trucks were parked
outside Elmhurst Hospital and temporary hospitals were set up in parks, to handle the overflow
of patients. Doctors and other medical frontline workers became the heroes of 2020. Life came
to a screeching halt for us, but for them, it was an endless nightmare of sick patients.. We had to
follow new guidelines for engaging in public. Masks became a necessity and a fashion
statement. We had to maintain a six foot distance from anyone else, especially indoors, at the
supermarket. School became an endless stream of emails and screen time. It’s hard to
concentrate when you are worried about family and friends. By the time the summer arrived,
New York City cases decreased substantially. I was convinced we were safe. On July 28, 2020,
we flew to the Dominican Republic to visit my Mom and other family members. After months of
quarantining, we were sure we were in the clear.
But, we weren’t in the clear. The only reason I went to the Dominican Republic was to visit my
Mom, whom I hadn’t seen since the summer of 2019. After a brief five days, my Mom began to
have symptoms of Covid-19. She dismissed her symptoms, and chalked it up to a flu. It wasn’t
until she developed a fever, and my constant pleading for her to get tested, that we discovered
she did in fact, have Covid-19. I was not with her at the time she became symptomatic, which
was a blessing and a curse.
It soon became apparent that we were not safe in the Dominican Republic, and returned
home to New York. I had to leave my mother behind, to face this unknown virus on her own.
Thankfully, I did not contract the virus, which is a blessing. However, the worry for my Mom’s
health became overwhelming. I was already in New York, and unable to control anything
happening to her. The only thing I could do was remind her to stay inside, drink plenty of fluids,
and get as much rest as possible. My Mother recovered from the virus, but so many others were
not as fortunate.
The last ten months have shown me that everyday people, who chose a profession to help
others are the true heroes of the world. Doctors, nurses, supermarket staff, and the many
others, who risk their lives to make it easier for my family, among others, to survive, are the true
heroes of 2020. I always thought I would like to participate in a career that helps others, but the
last ten months have strengthened my resolve. I am not quite sure what career path I will follow
at this time, but it will be in service to others.
Everyday was like a slap in the face because I was always thinking about my mom and if she
is doing fine, it was a constant reminder that she had COVID-19 and I felt horrible since I wasn’t
with her and that just hurt more. Even if I texted her or called her to see how she is doing and it
was still painful to know she had COVID and even if she said, “I’m feeling better” it still didn’t
make it any better for me cause I was still sad. Some weeks passed and my mom went to take
the test again and waited 2 more days for the results to be back and we hoped she tested
negative this time. By the time she got her results back she tested positive again, but she
couldn’t pass it to anyone and that’s better than passing it to someone. In the end she tested
negative and got better each day. I was happy and glad because I had many questions in my
mind that I couldn’t keep out of.
The narrative is a good reflection of me because it is good to have a good memory that leads
you to write like this or something that no one else knew before. However, mine was a bad
memory that I wish to not remember because my mom’s life was in danger since having COVID
can lead to death, but I’m happy she fought through it and got better. It’s just knowing that my
mom got COVID-19 made me somehow stronger than I already was and that made me think on
how can I improve this and that to show her and my dad that I can do this. In the end everything
was resolved and everything went back to normal, which was great considering that we live so
far apart from each other.
