Hope Lessons

By Maia, age 11

I remember when Covid was just a faint spot on the horizon, a prospect, a possibility, not my whole life. It was just something that you wash your hands for twenty seconds over, and then forget about. 

Before Covid I had known that you could be lonely, I knew you could be isolated, but being that alone was always just a fantasy, something you read in a story book, but don’t think really exists. And then Covid hit. And I couldn’t go see a friend, I couldn’t go to the pool, I couldn’t play on the playground. All I could do was pretend to be interested in the lesson coming over the screen or pretend it would all go back to normal in the morning. I had never been as lonely or as bored as I was then. Sometimes it felt like I just couldn’t do it. How does it feel to feel like all my friends were having a great time with each other, but I wasn’t invited? I didn’t know then, but I do now. But I got through it. I managed to keep my hope. You can too. We all can.