It was the incoming grade after being in quarantine for approximately 2 years. To even mention quarantine, it gives me the chills. From being like I was locked up, choked up, and set up. The whole set up idea comes from the feeling of opening my phone and seeing all these people talk about the whole pandemic. From vaccinations and numbers rising from the spread, COVID was all a blur. At times, I felt as though there was a big boulder resting on my chest. Not knowing whether to cry, panic, or break down. After 7th grade finished, my mental health was a wreck. For the majority of the summer, I always felt like I was stuck in this snow globe and these minor events were the slight shakes that made the sparkles dance.  With endless days of staying up just to be able to feel a change, which for this time was seeing the sky change colors. 

Quarantine destroyed me physically and mentally. Physically, I was sick and having COVID was no fun. Cold sores, coughing, and high fevers were all the symptoms I had to endure. While being sick, the thought of not being able to survive like the other who had been dying daily gradually kept creeping up on me during these times. The numbers are not increasing by ones or hundreds, but millions. During this time, I also lost my aunt to COVID. A beautiful love story actually comes up with this. Love? Love. Love!

 You wouldn’t expect a cute moment in such times, but don't expect anything spectacular. It was around march and COVID had struck. Now, my aunt used to live on a farm. This farm was huge. From the stories my dad has told me, as a little girl, her biggest dream was to be on the farm. She loved the animals and atmosphere of it all. COVID first struck in the middle east at a time of traveling. Many people were going in and out, which really did not make things any better. One day, we get a call from one of my other aunts, on my dads side, telling us bad news. She starts by saying that she's fine and that we shouldn’t worry. With no context of who she's talking about, we naturally start to panic. When she finally said who it was, our hearts all sank.

 She was beloved, cared-for, and missed. The thought of losing someone is just horrifying. As the days went on, we would call her kids and check up on her. It became a part of our routine at that point. Then came the day. She was finally pronounced dead because her lungs had simply given out. It was such a tragic event for the entire family. As it was clearly shown, everyone was very upset and filled with sorrow. One person who stuck out was her husband. Being completely honest, I would never in my life want to experience seeing my significant other go through such pain and ending up losing them when one day you planned to be together till eternity. After one week, we got a call. My aunt's husband had died. 

Now this was shocking because he didn't have COVID nor any virus. After having a deep conversation with our other relatives, it was clear that he died from heartbreak. His heart must have ached so much with all the tears and pain, it was worn out. He truly couldn't last more than a month without her. He was very impatient. Moments like these are heartbreaking but also spark some deep thoughts. Losing people and grief is all a part of life. Quarantine has taught me a bunch of things. One being that we shouldn't take special moments for granted because one day they will be the only things left for us to review back on. Also, we should spend more time with our loved ones because when the day that they disappear and are no longer there for one last brief moment, the unexpected and random precious will be much more precious than we would think.