How has this affected me personally?

Well, for starters, I am out of school. I have to stay home in order to keep this from spreading. My softball practices and games have been postponed. My parents have my siblings and I wash our hands before we eat, after we eat, when we first wake up, before we go to bed, before we go outside and play, and after that. It gives me a lot of time just to think, a lot of time to myself. I’m trying to keep myself busy by going on walks, reading and making new workouts to do. It is really scary, but I try to stay positive, keep myself as busy as possible. It gives me lots of time to spend with my family and since we are staying away from other people, I have learned that Facetime is now my favorite app. When I need a break from my family I will just take my dog and go for a walk. 

How has this affected my friends?

Most of them are doing the same as me, staying home and away from other people. It sucks not being able to see them, but that’s why we have these phones, to call and facetime. I check up on everyone at least once a day to see how everyone’s feeling. All of their sports have been postponed and canceled. Recently, I’ve been learning a bunch of workouts to do from home and I have been creating a bunch of them too. My friends have asked me to make some for them, and I have. It helps keep them active and healthy, gives them something to do. Most of my friends are a lot like me, they just need a distraction and need to keep themselves busy. We’ll facetime and talk about what friends talk about. We don’t really like to talk about what’s going on around us, unless we’re talking about when we can hangout next. 

How has this affected my family?

My stepmom is off of work, she is very curious about this. She has done a lot of research, her and my dad both. She has made us a schedule for the following weeks of “school” we will have. She keeps us busy and has a lot of fun things we can do as a family. My dad was planning on taking me and my brothers turkey hunting this coming weekend, it’s youth season. He’s very much into stuff like that. Like I’ve said before, we all just need a distraction and keep ourselves as busy as possible. My little brother’s soccer has been canceled and my little sister can’t go pet dogs when we go for walks. So far, we have gone on walks, bike rides, drove through Lone Elk Park, went to Busch Wildlife, cleaned the house, gave the dogs a bath, learned how to play Phase 10, watched movies, and worked out. My little brothers and sister I feel are super clueless about this, but I mean what can you expect? My 9-year-old brother, Bently, he’s a little scared, but also very curious, and he asks a lot of questions. My 5-year-old sister, Willow, just wants someone to play with her 24/7, her birthday is the 24th of next month. My 13-year-old brother, Gavin, he’s been chillin’ with me, playing cards and working out, we don’t necessarily talk about everything that much. My dad and stepmom have both taken things very seriously and keep themselves updated on the daily. I know they’re both super strong, but I feel like they’re also a little scared, but aren’t we all? We have no idea what could happen next. 

We just have to stay positive and try and stay busy. Make sure we know what’s going on around us. We’re all in this together.