2020, the year where lives changed, fears for our loved ones began to form, and the disconnection from the outside world became a daily routine. This was the beginning of the rise of COVID-19, a period that feels rarely discussed nowadays; a virus that has become a normal flu.
In January 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic began to domino, with one the first ever cases occurring in Washington. Cases and cases began to accumulate, and one day my father suggested my brother and I should stay home and not go to school. The next day, March 23 schools shut down. I was 10 and don’t recall at all that first day off. But, I remember the wide-spread fear illuminated from the news that morning–and for many mornings going forward.
The pandemic was a tough period for every family in New York: people couldn’t go to their jobs, kids struggled learning remotely, and most critically a virus was spreading throughout the condensed city.
Looking back, it is interesting to think of how many days everyone spent confined to their home, barely anyone walking in the streets. Throughout these days of confinement, New York found new ways of communication.
Every night around 7.p.m, during my dinnertime in 2020, I would leap out of my chair to grab two pots from my kitchen. Our window was opened wide, and as soon as I got to the window I heard the choir of pots coming from all across the West-Village. It was the new tradition of banging pots and clapping at 7.p.m. to thank the doctors, nurses, and everyone who went to work in the hospital and frontline and essential workers while the world was shut down. Even during a tense time, I found joy in my favorite tradition during the pandemic. It made me smile, hearing the lively cheers roar from the streets and the pots chaotically bang. It made my smile even brighter knowing that I was doing this with a community.
Zoom-calls, waking up late, and pajamas all day was probably how I spent most of my time during the pandemic. One day, I remember my mom and I cutting up construction paper into words that spelled out “thank you.” We taped the words onto our building’s window, to show more appreciation for the doctors who worked during the pandemic. The reason why I am bringing back these memories is because that phrase is still on my building’s window today. Seeing this phrase or any other thing like face-masks brings me back the memories of the pandemic. There are a bunch of other things that developed from the pandemic that we can see today like stickers on the floor of delis that say “6 feet part” or how restaurants make you pack your own leftovers now. If you look around you might find more things that highlight the times of COVID, and maybe after reading this article there are some memories being brought to you, good or bad.
