Home for me is a small town in New Jersey with a population of about 2,000. Silence is no stranger to me here because this place is usually very sleepy with not many people hanging around. However, since coming back last week the quiet now feels more eerie than ever. Everything other than non-essentials businesses are indefinitely closed so there’s nowhere to go even if I wanted to. Besides, most of the open stores are experiencing panic buying so shortages of supplies are everywhere and there has been an 8pm curfew put in place as well. There is no point in going out, but I don’t feel safe enough to leave the house anyway. Jersey has the second largest amount of deaths in the country due to the virus and my county has 144 people infected. As of right now there have not been any cases reported in my town, but like I said we’re pretty small so I don’t think any government officials are making this place a priority to be tested for corona.
I haven’t left the house since I’ve been here, in fact I’ve barely left my room. I live with my mom and my brother and both of them work in fields that mandatorily can not be closed. My mom is a CNA who takes of elderly and rehab patients. My brother is a manager of a small convenience store. I’m very grateful they still have work because there’s a lot of people losing their jobs as a result of this virus. I can’t deny how worried I am for them though to be in constant contact with different people all the time. My mom is in her 60’s and my brother does not have the best health so if they catch the virus I can’t imagine the consequences. To top it off, both visit my elderly grandmother regularly and I know if she gets it she won’t make it out okay. It’s hard to be scared of something you can’t control.
Spending all my time inside has definitely been making me go stir crazy, but I rather do that than put anyone else I know or love in danger. It’s likely I would be okay, but I’m certainly not going to risk myself infecting someone else. In the meantime I’ve tried to take up new hobbies and keep my mind busy because there’s no sense in worrying all the time. Still, I can’t help but feel disappointed at the abrupt ending of my time on campus. If things keep going this way it’s likely there will be no summer to enjoy as well. Negative thoughts keep creeping in my head however I’ll make myself stay positive that my family, my town and everyone else will make it out of this.
This is a photo my brother took of the parkway during what should have been rush hour.