Chloe Millard COVID Diary
Hello everyone! It breaks my heart to write this COVID diary the day after we officially passed 500,000 deaths in the United States from COVID. While some may look at that number and think it to not be too awful, I look at that number and see 500,000 parents, siblings, children, friends, and loved ones who were mercilessly ripped from this world far too soon. My heart goes out to everyone who has lost a loved one to this virus. I am reminded of the lyric from the Broadway musical Hamilton, “Death doesn’t discriminate between the sinners and the saints. It takes, and it takes, and it takes. But we keep living anyway. We rise, and we fall, and we break and make our mistakes.” We all continue to push forward in this time, the darkness not yet overpowering.
The good news is that the COVID vaccine distribution is finally picking up! Many of my family members have received their vaccines, and I am eagerly awaiting my chance to do so as an essential worker. Knowing the vaccines are being distributed speedily is, quite honestly, one of the big things keeping me going these days. These strides we are desperately making towards normalcy give me hope, and I look forward to the days where we will be able to safely interact with one another on campus once again.
COVID continues to change things for me in my own life, as it has for the past year now. Last week, I attended the funeral of my aunt, and was heartbroken by how small the gathering had to be. She touched the lives of so many, yet so few could attest to that in person. My heart broke for that, and my heart breaks for everyone else who has experienced what I just did.
