Lauren Sherman COVID Diary #2

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Lauren Sherman COVID Diary #2

By Lauren Sherman

Lauren Sherman

As the number of COVID-19 cases dropped during the summer I allowed myself to be optimistic that life could continue to become more normal. 

I wondered what was going to happen once the weather got colder and people spent more time inside, though, and unfortunately the situation is not looking good. People have let their guard down and cases are going up. I ate inside at restaurants a few times, but it made me worry and I recently decided to stop doing so for the time being. Once again, life is becoming smaller.  

I want to do an internship at Tri-C sometime before I complete my certificate and now, I am wondering if that will be possible or if it will be in a different format than I expected, such as online. That is my main worry when it comes to college. 

Also, even though I miss going to campus for classes, I admit it is nice not to have to spend as much time driving back and forth, as it gives me more time to study. 

As far as my personal life, I am lucky to have had a good Halloween. My husband and I hand out candy at my parents’ house because they have lots of trick-or-treaters and the residents are creative with their decorations and costumes. After hearing about the idea of using a candy chute in order to keep several feet in between the children and the person passing out candy, my husband decided to build one. 

He made a tube from PVC pipe and painted it orange. Then he cut the bottom out of a plastic trick-or-treat pumpkin bucket and attached it to the top. We adhered it to my parents’ porch railing with zip ties and wound Halloween lights around it. Not only was it cute, but it worked well, and we got compliments on it. My young nephew loved tossing candy into the bucket and having the children below catch it in their bags. My family wore masks and I felt very safe. 

Other houses in the neighborhood had taken safety precautions as well. Many had their candy sitting on tables while they sat several feet away. Someone rigged a candy chute between cornhole boards. I was pleased with everyone’s creativity.  

A few days later was election day. I chose the absentee route so I would not have to be in crowds at a voting location. After seeing how long it was taking for mail to be delivered, I opted to turn my ballot in at the board of election’s drop box. 

On election night I was nervous. I doubted we would have a result that night, but I knew that no matter who won it was not going to be a typical election. 

And it wasn’t. After days of waiting, we learned Joe Biden was the projected winner. Not surprisingly, Donald Trump didn’t concede. While we wait for his lawsuits to be completed, I just feel sad that this is happening during a pandemic because Trump seems to be ignoring the rise in disease cases in favor of disputing the election.  

Also, some people who voted differently than their family members are being alienated by them, which I’m sure is even more difficult when they are lacking human connections because of social distancing. 

Our governor is going to implement a slowdown instead of a shutdown, although he hasn’t said yet what he means by that. I hope whatever it is helps, because the thought of letting COVID-19 run rampant and having more people die is terrible. 

As the disease cases have increased, my family has had to decide how to handle Thanksgiving. Normally we attend a large gathering but that is not being held this year. I am planning to host my immediate family at my house because it has the most space so we can distance better while eating. When not eating we are going to wear masks. We even decided to buy a family-sized meal from a restaurant to decrease the amount of people in the kitchen preparing food. 

It is certainly a strange year, but I am thinking positively and hoping a vaccine comes soon. 

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