TCT’s good things

Three months ago I was complaining about work, and now I’m unemployed—Grand Coney is one of COVID-19’s many business-based victims forced into forever closure. Three months ago, I was dancing in my car with my friend Ayesha at 7:29 am, a ritual we established this year, and now I go days without driving Murph, my trusty car. Three months ago, I was home alone and believed an “intruder” w...

I am so grateful for everyone around me,  specifically my TCT friends. I was so scared walking into our classroom on the first day of school because I had no clue who anyone else was, and I had no idea what this class would be like. I solely choose this class to become a better writer, but what I didn’t know is that I would end up needing this class. The stressful days always ended with me laug...

If quarantine has taught me anything it’s that I am nothing if not a receptacle for memories. The repetition of days and nights has gifted me the realization that life is monotonous and jagged without my creative lifestyle. It’s always been this way, and I was a fool to wait to notice until now. It rained today. It rained today, and I remembered the electricity of divine juvenescence. Rain means s...

Last Christmas, I asked for a bullet journal.  I merely desired a place to write down my thoughts, design my future, and reminisce on the past. I wanted a place to escape from the real world, so for two weeks, that is all that I would do.  I only filled out a couple of pages before I tucked it away on a shelf in the corner of my room, though. I had completely forgotten about it until one m...

“Check your mailbox.”.  “I left something on your porch.”  “Come outside.”  Texts like these have been sent to me biweekly throughout quarantine. Whether I’m reading a book, watching Netflix, dancing in my basement, or doing homework, I can’t help but throw whatever I’m doing to the side and rush to my front door when these texts ring in. Ranging from hour-long talks on my dri...

A few weeks ago, my mom bought a really extensive paint by numbers for me. The box sat on the dining room table for a few days because, honestly, it was really intimidating. The lines and spaces were so small, and there were 24 different colors to work with, and it was hard for me to imagine how I could go from a blank canvas to an intricate painting. But, alas, one day I did take it out of the ...

I’ve gotten pretty good at Kan Jam over quarantine. With nothing else to do, my siblings and I like to pull out the cylinders and frisbee and set up a game or two. They usually consist of fighting over who gets JT on their team—because he’s the best—whether the frisbee hit the can or the ground first, and whether or not it’s cheating if I throw the frisbee at my brother’s head instead...

As an extrovert on the furthest end of the extroversion spectrum, I initially shrugged off the concept of FaceTime and Zoom calls as a substitute for genuine human contact. It was my all or nothing approach to this sudden plunge into confusion and uncertainty. Video calls were a weak shadow of what I used to have: my people, the people I cherished and adored, right there next to me.  But one friend...

Time. I, for one, have spent way too much of it thinking about how much of it I have lost—hence the never-ending cycle of me switching my mindset between giving up and having hope. It is exhausting, both emotionally and physically, to stay on task with schoolwork when my mind wanders to every single fragment of loss and depravity in both my own life, the people I love, and even those I hear ...

One of the good things about this hard time is that I can still see my friends. Although we stay 6 feet apart, sitting on the top of our cars, and it happens only every other week, I still get to see them. I feel like, over these past couple of months, it has been easy to lose touch with people. But, I know that it doesn’t matter how many times my friends and I see each other or how many time...

As quarantine has left my family stuck at home for weeks, I have come to appreciate the time I get to spend with my sister much more. As Anna is a freshman in college and spent her senior year training out of state, it has been a long time since we have been able to enjoy each other's company.  Although I know she didn’t choose to leave Ann Arbor and would likely be happier at college with all of ...

During quarantine, I have gained so much respect for my neighbors and gotten to know them so much better, and I am so thankful for that opportunity. Watching the tiny little kids play around the neighborhood, riding bikes, enjoying silly games, and doing chalk with my sister not only brightens my day but also warms my heart.  It is sometimes hard to stay apart, but we all do our best. As much as I ...

During all of the craziness of coronavirus, I have had many things that have kept me sane. One of my favorites is my dog. Whether he is curled up in a ball, tanning in sunny spots he finds around the house, jumping into my arms to give me a hug, or getting so excited to go on a walk he won’t even let me close the door behind us, he is always his bright happy ball of fur. His favorite thing...

I entered quarantine the same way a child enters a grocery store—with only the faintest knowledge of the store’s blueprints but a definite cognizance of where the candy aisle is located. Yet, much like the child, I soon realized that while being in the candy aisle has its perks, I was hopelessly lost because I didn’t know where my guardian was. Worst of all, I was surrounded by saccharine si...