Loved ones are in danger during this pandemic and the best thing we can do is stay away. Nobody is safe from Covid-19 and no matter how much we joke about it to try and lighten the mood it’s terrifying to think we could be next. We take stuff for granted because as human beings that’s what we do. But as soon as it’s gone we realise how much it meant to us. I’m scared for my grandparents,  my aunt because she has heart problems and my mom. These people mean the world to me. 

Every summer I’d spend with my dad, my grandfather would wake up early every morning to cook breakfast for everyone. Sometimes I wouldn’t see him for months but everytime I did he always said the same thing with a thick mexican accent, “Como estas hija?” Which means “how are you daughter?” I haven’t seen him in over a year because of issues that were going on before the pandemic and now because of it. 

My grandmother or “abuelita,” she always says how we should never call her grandma because it makes her feel really old. Every chance she got she would take me and my favorite cousin to eat at our favorite place Tel-Wink Grill. The plates were gigantic and because we had been going there since we were little eight year old’s, the workers would always add extra whipped cream to our hot chocolate. The last time I saw her was in November when I convinced my mom to let me go to a fifteen of a close family friend from my dad’s side.

 My aunt is the world’s greatest aunt in the world. I have always said how someday when I’m an aunt I’m going to be just like her. She is the funniest, craziest, and kindest person I have ever met. She puts everyone else before herself, a real inspiration. My mother had me and my aunt had my favorite cousin just two weeks apart. Tiffany and Destiny, cousins but more like sisters forever. I went everywhere with them, parks, waterparks, museums, Main Event, Jumping World, movie theaters, skating rinks, ice skating, the pool, the zoo, even to Disney World. We were always together and even dressed the same for our birthdays. After she started having heart problems it was hard for her to do things she would normally do but she didn’t let that stop her. She’s at higher risk of passing away from this virus because of her heart condition.

My mom is my life. I love her with everything I’ve got, she’s a survivor, a trooper who has worked herself to death every day of her life to give me and my siblings the opportunities she never got to experience. She came to the US when she was thirteen and has worked ever since then. Her life has been full of haters, manipulators, and toxic people who don’t deserve her. No matter how many times people do her wrong, she will always forgive and move on. She has a heart of gold, she cares about everyone and will do all she can to help someone out, even if they don’t deserve it. Right now she is risking her life everyday to work. 

I was lucky enough to grow up with the most incredible people and because of this virus I could potentially lose them all in a matter of days. Over this time I have been able to do a lot of thinking and reflecting across my actions. I came to a realization that I took them all for granted. I chose not to see the people from my dad’s side before this pandemic because of anger towards someone that didn’t even matter. I’m selfish for getting annoyed when I have to help out my little sister with her homework while my mom is risking her life and working from seven in the morning till eight at night because she needs the money to keep a roof over our heads. I love them all so much, if something happens to them I know I’ll regret it for the rest of my life. That I didn’t hug them harder, that I didn’t say “I love you” more. I didn’t take the saying “Once it’s gone, it’s gone” serious up until now. My family, as weird as they may be sometimes, mean so much to me that if I lost one of them I wouldn’t be able to live with myself. I can’t wait for this virus to go away so I can safely see the people I love again.