I think I speak for many when I say the obvious that lockdown was difficult. The year 2020 was just difficult in general. I was seventeen years old when the lockdown first began last year and neither I or anyone I knew was prepared for what came and how it affected each and every one of us. Unfortunately, only a month before the first lockdown, myself and my family had received news that my father had cancer so the year was not going well anyway before the pandemic. The guidelines were a difficult adjustment but I got used to them. However what I didn’t get used to was the inability to see my friends. We are as close as brothers and the months of not being able to just have a laugh like we usually do was very difficult as I needed an escape. I was very close with my father so I was honored to be there for him but I was only seventeen and sometimes when lockdown and illness became such difficult things to deal with, I simply needed an occasional escape to just be a teenager but for many months, there was no chance of it. It took a mental toll which led to me being severely unmotivated and generally in a bad mood. However things changed on my 18th birthday in May of that year. I was devastated that I couldn’t be with my friends but when I saw the lengths my family went to make the day as good as it could be, my heart warmed exponentially. That night I had my first proper drink with my sister and her friend and I ended up feeling the best I had felt since the lockdown started. While my father’s situation was hard as was the lockdown, my 18th at least gave me a much more positive attitude to take forward with me. An acceptance that I couldn’t change a situation not in my control and to make the best of whatever else happened that year. And I would encourage anyone else finding the pandemic difficult to do the same. It all just needs to start with one good day.
