The True Evil of COVID

Holiday plans: cancelled; families: torn apart; hotel: Trivago. I think we can all agree that COVID sucks, but let’s look deeper into that statement.

YES, it’s awful that this school year went down the drain. Homecoming didn’t exist, “FNL” posts only existed on the Instagrams of seniors and family members of the football team, and online school can be a mess. While making memories in school is wonderful, and it’s understandable why all of us miss these things, there are other things that we sometimes forget to see.

My grandpa called me the other day. He tested positive for COVID so I haven’t seen him recently, and I’m really glad he called, because in my day to day life I forget to check in on those I don’t see all the time. He called me in regards to a memory from two years ago, one that feels like it happened just yesterday.

My grandma and I were in my kitchen, she was teaching me how to make her amazing sugar cookies. I knew in the back of my mind that she was sick, and wasn’t going to make it much longer. But I still had hope that come Christmas 2019, I wouldn’t be making cookies on my own.

My grandpa called me, crying, and telling me how proud he was, and how far I have come since then. I soon found myself crying as well, because I couldn’t hug him, and wouldn’t be able to for a long while.

This is the true evil of COVID. It’s one thing to not be able to hug someone who had passed on, it’s another thing to not be able to hug someone who is still here. It’s taken away the thing we all need at this time, physical love.

There are ways to combat a distanced Christmas, like Zoom or FaceTime, but it’s nothing compared to what it used to be. No big meals around the dinner table, no small talk about lives, the world, or even politics; there’s bound to b- beeeeee a ski-ipppp throughout the call.

My intention isn’t to diminish the more self-centered losses COVID has brought upon us, it’s simply to highlight the more important ones. Because if you’ve lost a family member, you know what I mean. Being alone for the holidays, or knowing someone who is kills. I wish I could host one big meal for everyone who is alone. But with COVID, that’s unrealistic, because there is too much risk. While I miss being around people, it’s simply not safe.

Once we are past this pandemic, hopefully it will teach us to appreciate the small moments in life, because now we know what it feels like to have them taken away.