Expressing Gratitude During a Pandemic

Lenten Journals became the Pandemic Diaries

Editor’s note: Over the next several months, look for periodic articles written by DSUSD students regarding their experiences with school 2020 style during a global pandemic. 

It was the beginning of March, pre-lockdown when my family and I were seated at the dinner table and decided to create a Lenten season diary.  We would record one thing we were grateful for each night until Easter. The Lenten Journals, now dubbed the Pandemic Diaries, were brimming with news clippings, facts, and personal observations that proved to be significant considering the global turn of events. This week, I skimmed through the journal and landed on March 13.  It read:  “Trump Declares A National State of Emergency”.

Under the March 13 entry, we seemed relatively calm despite the news; my father was grateful for his office adapting to the sudden changes, I was grateful that spring break arrived early, and my mother had a hysterical FaceTime call with her beloved friends in New York City. One week later, there was an evident shift in tone. The press was going wild. Coronavirus cases were climbing, stay-at-home orders were issued, and the Desert Sands Unified School District quickly put together the resources to feed thousands of children throughout the valley through their “Grab and Go” program.

I felt unbelievably fortunate to have two parents who would listen to me every night as I processed a new day of world/health/economic uncertainty. We were thankful to have a roof over our heads and share the presence of each other. Our gratitude was real.

So what did we do? After dinner and writing in the journal, we routinely turned to “Parks and Recreation” for laughs. My mother pulled the plug on the news cycle and tended to her garden, it always brought her peace. My father was more than usually excited about the Stanley Cup Playoffs because his favorite team went far into the tournament.  I spent many late nights on FaceTime calls with friends or listening to new albums to expand my music taste. Yet I was still in an unfamiliar rut. On the first of April, I turned seventeen and was pleasantly surprised with a Zoom birthday call from my friends. It was unbelievably heartwarming, although I was missing them in person. There was limitless confusion in the air.

The world stopped and changed immeasurably this year. In December, as I am writing this, there’s been a devastating 1.54 million deaths globally, with roughly 1,500 in Riverside County. All of the movie theatres are still closed, so is Broadway and most schools. Essential workers are the superheroes holding it all together. The Pandemic started in Lent and is still going on, during Advent.  Advent is a season of waiting and expectation.  It is also a time of gathering, wintering, and spending time with loved ones.  The Coronavirus numbers in California are climbing, the ICU units are full, and we are again shut down.  This year has opened my eyes to many things–how incredibly diverse we are and how much we need one another. This year, I grew up.