This year places us in unchartered territory. By the power vested in me by virtue of my keyboard, I hereby want to state that it’s perfectly fine to feel scared, confused, unsettled, angry, and so forth.
In December 2019, my parents had come to the US to spend time with me and my wife. We had a very enjoyable 2 months before they had to go to India due to a family emergency. Fortunately, they reached home safely.
Things started to change at the beginning of March. First, we were told to work from home as the number of COVID-19 cases started to increase in Colorado. We were then told to maintain social distancing to stop the spread of the virus. It has been more than 2 weeks now and Colorado is still under a statewide Stay-at-Home order.
Every time I see my family including my niece and nephew, I wish I could be there with them and hug them all in person. When I said goodbye to my parents when they left for India back in February, I told them that I would see them in May when I was going to visit India for 2 weeks. Unfortunately, nobody knows when that’s going to happen.
None of us have been through anything like this before. We don’t know what’s going to happen and when will this end. We don’t know what normal will look like. We don’t even know how to keep our loved ones and ourselves safe. In the meantime, we may just have to learn to live with the invisible enemy which we know is lurking outside.
I like to travel a lot, but the area to roam around is now limited to the area of my apartment. We have all been forced to adjust, adapt, evolve, and cope. None of these things are easy, but we have no choice but to do them.
Nobody has a magic wand that can fix these problems. All I know is every beginning has an end. Hence, all we need to have is patience. Stay at home, maintain social distancing, wash your hands regularly, and follow the guidelines of health and government officials. Everyone should do everything possible to help humanity’s fight against COVID-19. You are not alone.