when covid happened

where were you when you heard the news about covid-19?

i was a sophomore in college,
hearing rumors about some new viral infection
that was rivaling the likes of influenza.

i remember being at my campus supermarket,
thinking “hmm.. i guess i don’t have any face masks.
maybe i should buy some before it gets bad..”

it was just about to be spring break, too.
i remember my parents telling me to stay at my apartment,
because they’re nurses who might get me sick.

it was a scary time to have nurses for parents.
you think they’re invincible because they work in medicine,
but really, they’re risking their lives every day.

my parents are going through a bout of covid right now,
and i may or may not be catching it myself soon here
(my throat feels a bit funny).

when people say they can remember “exactly where they were”
when an incident happened, like hearing the news of 9/11,
or learning a family member had cancer or passed away,
i found it hard to believe because i didn’t have a time like that of my own.

but it changed when covid-19 struck our planet.

thanks for reading today’s post.
memories..