My COVID Story
Many of you must be thinking that I contracted the virus, however, It’s not about me in this article. It’s about how I dealt with Covid amongst two of my family members- my mother and my father. No, thankfully, by God’s grace, both their infections were mild so there wasn’t anything to worry about.
My father and my mother’s test came back positive, initially leaving me helpless and confused.
I was standing there with a mask at a distance behind my father, who was checking for the test results on his laptop, scared to death. We already knew that mom had got the infection because a few days before she had lost her taste and smell. That time when my father said, “ Two people are infected and two are safe”. I was pretty sure that I also had it, but it actually turned out to be my father. My mother was already quarantined for a day or two, my father joined her that day too
There I was confused, helpless, hopeless, and weeping that my worst nightmare came true. I was so disturbed that even though my parents were always so careful, in fact extra-careful, they still contracted it. You all must be wondering that this story is just going to be sad, but guess what? You’re wrong!
Here comes the twist. Of course, like anybody would get a shock of their life, I did too. Perhaps it made me stronger to deal with it. I thought to myself that no, I’m not going to just sit there and cry, let’s just help because if you help someone in need, you would feel so good and that’s what I did. I did multi-tasking of my college classes in the mornings as well as attended to calls or messages of my mother if they needed food or water.
I didn’t feel so bad later on because of my wonderful and helpful neighbors and house-helper. There was a WhatsApp group that was formed where people listed who would give lunch, snacks, and dinner. Ahh, how mouthwatering and amazing were those delicacies and snacks. I loved every bit of them.
As they say, food and music are the most amazing combinations, both of these things lightened up my days. I played music on my Bluetooth speaker to cheer up my brother Sachin. Lunches and dinners ranged from pao bhaji to rajma chawal, my favorite daal- Arhal Dal, and paneer. Evening snacks included cupcakes, Sachin’s favourite-Somosas, Seekh Kebabs, cheese toast, garlic bread, and so on. All of this sounds like a dream to you all right? I’m so grateful to all those neighbors who helped us in any way, relatives, friends, and family friends who also called to check up on us, I felt so loved.
Socializing In Quarantine
On the 18th of April was Sachin’s birthday, sadly it was an isolated birthday for him, truly not what we imagined but with the help of his special educator, we blew balloons, ordered a cake, and decorated the house. We even video-called each other as a family, it was quite a sight, all of us in three different rooms and cutting the cake on video! It was quite an experience!
It wasn’t all sad as we occupied ourselves watching our favorite shows, dancing, and singing. My close friends called up and had an online dinner with me, we usually didn’t do this but this was also quite exhilarating. Personally, I did feel lonely at times and very overwhelmed by the cases outside but that’s what made me realize that not everything is in our hands. All we can do is try our best to stay out of the situation but even if it does happen, add some humor to it and take it in a positive light.
My friends called to check up on me and we even had a virtual dinner.
Last but not the least, I want to remind all of you that if you ever experience what I have been through along with my family, initially, it will be challenging but once you get used to it, it gets better. There are always perks to every situation, I got more freedom, but yes jokes apart, I learned to take care of myself alone and my parents from a distance. You can always help people in many ways even if you are miles apart from them.
I learned to be more understanding, patient and stayed alone like an independent adult (except of course the food sent by neighbors). Overall, I did go through an array of emotions over the past two weeks in isolation. Remember, you are not alone, if you need help, reach out, there will always be friends who will check on you. I truly want to thank my best friends and friends who stayed in touch with me who gave me emotional support, it’s truly needed. Remember, tough times don’t last forever, this was a tough one but I managed, so can you!