One year lost to Covid — by Clement Favaron
One year ago today, on Monday, March 16, 2020, I saw friends for the last time in real life before going into lockdown the day after. It was not long, just went to get a paper from someone about a math lesson I’d missed and then stopped at someone else’s to give them back something I’d borrowed. Just a few minutes discussing with both of them. But even that, it was a lot.
Because that day marked when my social interactions with my friends have become almost entirely virtual.
The Friday before, on March 13, I went to school for the last time with my high school friends. On a normal school day. And even if it was already a bit odd as we knew we wouldn’t get back there on Monday, for that one last day, I was in a class full of friends, went to the school restaurant with all my friends, spent time discussing what we’d do in the coming days… you know, normal time at school with friends. Just a normal day. Then I said goodbye to most of them. And never came back to a normal class with fun, no mask, no fear, and not half of us behind a screen.
Then, we went into lockdown, and I went on Twitter. Okay, I was on Twitter already before, but it was not my primary source of social interactions apart from my family…
But you know what scares me most? The fact that I don’t really remember that time. Covid has taken part of our youth, weirdly making us stay longer than expected with our parents, but at the same time making us forget how to party, how to be happy, how to not be scared, and how to be children.
It’s been a year already, and that scares me a lot. A year I’ve kind of lost.
Of course, there have been good -and even amazing- moments during this past year. Our cat gave birth to 3 incredible kittens during the lockdown, I never had that much time to work on things I like (it allowed me to spend hours finding Progressive candidates in the US, making graphics for some of them, and launching The Progressive Guide), there was no stress in June as exams were canceled, we had a relatively normal summer, I entered university and I love what I’m studying… And I met someone who became my girlfriend, and we’re now living together. Yes, there’s been some good. But still, I don’t think I’m ever going to stop feeling like I have lost several months of life.
Please get vaccinated when you can, we all need more social interactions.
Clement
3/16/2021
