Silver linings

By Sophia, Age 13

December 2019. I was just ten years old at the time. I was in bed feeling miserable. Continuous coughs at the rate that one would normally breathe. Breath, cough, breath, cough, breath, cough. I was that way for more days than I care to remember. Instead of my usual texts with friends being filled with things like, “Can’t wait for our sleepover!” or “How was your school day?” our texts were instead full of “How high is your temp today?” or “Are you feeling any better?” It seemed like everybody was sick. There were so many kids I knew, including myself and several parents, that were suffering from this…thing…that felt like a “different kind of sick”. When my mom took me to the doctor’s office, she told us that it was “just a virus”. After I finally got better, my mom was sick, and after her was my dad. So while yes, it definitely was – and is – a virus, there’s nothing “just” about it. While the challenges of covid are obvious, it also has a silver lining. The pandemic and being quarantined have meant more quality time for my family. It also led me to the online school that I now attend.