Around 2 years ago | Covid Journal
Around 2 years ago, the whole world went into extensive lockdown with the outbreak of the Coronavirus. Though it was only supposed to be 3 weeks off, Covid-19 is still a prominent issue almost 2 years later. While that anniversary is approaching, another, less major one came just a week prior: my birthday.
In 2020, I finally became a teenager, hitting 13 on the 6th of March. The celebration lasted two days: day one was going to the mall with some friends and day two was a party at my house. At the mall, 4 of us teenage girls walked around, stopping at stores such as Tilly’s, Charlotte Russe, and Starbucks. The next day, about 15 preteen and teen girls made jokes about something new and far away called “Corona”. To our knowledge, it was not a big deal and it couldn’t affect us, it was just another trending topic. However, less than a week later, their social life shut down. We all tried to stay friends but, as life goes on, we all inevitably broke apart.
In 2021, I turned 14 on the 6th of March. The celebration lasted 2 days: day one was going to the mall with some friends and day two was spending the day with my household family; at the mall, 3 of us teenage girls put our masks on and enjoyed ourselves, window shopping at stores such as FYE, Books-A-Million, and Mitchell’s Ice Cream. We were cautious not to touch anything and sanitized our hands frequently, making sure we were germ-free. The next day, my mother and I went to a candy shop about 20 minutes away, in a city, we didn’t know that well. In the shop, we stuck our masks on, making sure not to go by anyone else or touch anything we weren’t confident we were going to buy. Since restaurants weren’t open on the inside, we brought food home for the 5 family members, who wished their youngest daughter a happy birthday, though I had to use a fan to blow out the candles (in case of germs spreading).
In 2022, I turned 15 on the 6th of March. The celebration lasted two days: day one was going to the mall with some friends, and day two was a celebration with some family members. At the mall, 3 teenage girls finally watched the heavily anticipated movie, The Batman. Since we were all fully vaccinated, we took our masks off while watching the film, but kept them on after leaving the theatre, just to be safe. The next day, my mother, brother, and I celebrated my birthday with a giant cake from Dairy Queen. The rest of the family members were busy, with one working and the other on vacation for spring break. We went shopping, all wearing masks, but weren’t as frantic as we were the year before. We stopped at stores such as Rue 21, H&M, and Auntie Anne’s. Though the celebration was small, we all felt a sense of relief from the year before, reminiscing of what had happened only 2 years prior.
What really has to be said is the changes that came on those three birthdays. Going from an excited 7th grader to a freshman in high school is a big change no matter what, but under these circumstances, it’s fair to think that the changes didn’t go as smoothly as expected. But one thing did remain from the previous years: going to the mall with friends. Through the chaos, we still tried to find ways to enjoy our teen years, while also trying to be careful not to cut those years short by getting sick.