Dear Taylor,

It’s a Tuesday, but it’s also summer so days don’t actually matter. You’re probably out on the lake relaxing on the boat with a sweatshirt on as your burn from the day begins to get chilly in the cool night air. It’s a little after 5:30 so the sun is setting, everyone has calmed down and is now just enjoying each other’s company, talking about everything and anything. I loved days like those. I still do, but I’m not exactly sure when they’ll happen again.

Back in March—it’s now May—we were struck with a pandemic. The virus going around is called the Coronavirus or Covid-19. Never in my life did I believe I would use the words pandemic or Coronavirus to describe my current situation. Nor did I ever think that Coronavirus would qualify as a word to Microsoft Word before my last name would, but that just goes to show the severity of this all.

This virus hasn’t personally affected you in ways that it has others, but it has caused a huge shift in the normalcy of your life. Something I fear may never fully come back, at least not for a while. Meg, Joe, and Hailey, while only down the street, have quarantined themselves because of Meg’s job in the ER. Anna’s autoimmune disease has her parents a bit more worried, so seeing her has become rarer than one wishes when it comes to spending time with their best friend. You see Sam sometimes, but she’s always been one to become consumed in her schoolwork, and with the switch to online classes, she sort of disappeared. I would talk more about the switch to online classes, but I’m just happy we survived and that’s that.

Probably the most frustrating part of it all is watching your sisters, Deb and Brooke, live it up in Key Largo. Deb had gone down for what was only supposed to be a week, but because of the virus, she’s been there for about two months. Brooke now works as a dolphin trainer there, so both of them are tan and playing with dolphins everyday while you sit at home, pale and doing nothing but watching some series on Netflix. I may complain about this all the time as I had the chance to go down and join, but in the end, I know I never could have left mom here to deal with the repercussions of this virus alone. Also, you’re now fostering the cutest 14-year-old puppers there ever was, so remember that there is a light in dark times.

While a lot has changed, you are one of the lucky ones. You have lost no one to this unnerving virus, and you still get to see your friends and family, even though it may be at a six-foot distance. It sucks, I won’t lie. All I can tell you is to appreciate all that you have at the moment. Appreciate the small things like watching the sunset with your friends out on the lake. Appreciate the freedom of being able to go wherever you please whenever you wish, because come late March 2020, that will all change. Also, just appreciate life, because, come the end of this virus, not everybody will be so lucky.

I love you and remember to live a cherished life,

You