My Story Of The Pandemic

The Beginning - Sunday, 22nd March

It all became real when I thought I was saying goodbye to my boyfriend for the last time for an undetermined amount of time.

Before that it was just stuff that was on the news and wasn't really relevant to me. I wasn't sure what I was expecting to be honest, but the danger was here now and if New Zealand went up a level (which was likely in the next day or two) then I wouldn't be able to see him until it was lifted and who knows how long that'd be. 

[New Zealand is using a level based system to combat COVID-19, where, as the levels went up, increasing measures where to be taken against the virus. At this stage NZ was at Level 2 and at the next level, Level 3, all those that had respiratory diseases were to self-isolate. My boyfriend had mild asthma and so therefore would have to self-isolate.]

As he walked out the door I was holding back tears, trying to keep myself busy by cleaning up after the gathering we had had. Him and my sister had come over for the day just to chill and spend time together. We had ended up going on a trip to the supermarket (a sip of adulting for my sister, and a look at the chaos for me) and then played cards until mum came to pick my sister up.

I knew that I shouldn't cry just yet, that there should always be a buffer zone of a couple of minutes before you relax just in case the visitor comes back for something. This has happened to me multiple times and has included the fact that I or them forgot an item or that we still needed to organise something. This is exactly what happened. I had forgotten my umbrella in his car when we went to the shop. I don't know if he could tell that I was a about to cry. The hug I gave him at that point was tighter than before and I think he noticed because he gave my arm a rub after the hug. It made my heart jump.

After he left I basically grabbed a box of tissues, my phone and teddy and then laid on my bed and cried for a bit. I used the online discord community to help cheer myself up.

Spent the rest of the afternoon and night preparing for the week ahead, noting down which courses had classes cancelled and those that had online ones that needed attending. Made pizza for dinner (nom).

I found a little note from my boyfriend. I have this notepad that I use to write down lists and on one of the further pages was a smiley face and "Love ya". It made my heart melt. I had to grab the tissues again. The note could have been placed there at any of the multiple times he'd visited me and it was so adorable. I pinned it to my board to give me a smile for whenever I need one.