I remember before this year started, people were so excited when they saw that the 4th of July would be on a Saturday. I was excited too because I knew that meant I wouldn’t have an early morning the next morning. I love the 4th of July BBQs that I go to that Chris and Marie host.
When the pandemic started, I don’t think any of us expected it to last this long. When Memorial Day happened and we had a virtual hangout, I think we all assumed we would be together again soon. Even some of the reports were saying that LA might be able to reopen by the 4th of July. I knew that just because things could reopen didn’t mean that having a party would be safe. But I was using the date as a goal for the future and hoping that things would be starting to get back to how they were before by then.
But that didn’t happen. Cases are growing. We are lucky the death rate isn’t rising at the same speed, but that doesn’t mean things aren’t dangerous. We have no clue what the long-term health effects will be on someone who had COVID. I know people are tired of being home and want to go out and be social, but we just can’t do that now if we want this to be over soon. If more people stayed home and wore masks when they went out, we would be in a better position right now. But because of the actions of others, we cannot have things open and we need to stay home and away from others.
So as much as my friend group wanted to see each other for the 4th of July, it wasn’t possible. None of us wanted to risk the health of others by having a party. Plus, gatherings weren’t really allowed. But since we had already done one virtual holiday hangout, we were prepared to do another one. And that’s exactly what we did.
I wasn’t able to stay on our Zoom hangout as long as I would have liked to, but I was able to be on there for a while and see a lot of my friends. Everyone was so happy to see each other and we were all saying how much we missed being together in person. Some people had some really fun and creative Zoom backgrounds (even background videos) and that made us all laugh. Most of the conversation was just catching up with each other and making sure we are all doing ok. It wasn’t that different from how we spend parties catching up in person, but it felt extra nice to have people checking in on me and making sure everything was going ok.
Many of us live alone, so having some social interaction was really needed. I know I needed it. I still have some days where isolation is a huge struggle for me. I feel like I’m on my own little planet and there is nobody else out there that understands what I’m feeling. I know that isn’t true, but it’s hard to not feel that way. But I have noticed being more open about my struggle has helped as other friends have said they feel the same. Even though we all feel like we are on our own planets, at least we are starting to feel like we aren’t the only one out there feeling like that.
Because of something else I had scheduled on the 4th, I was only able to stay on Zoom for about an hour. But honestly, that hour meant so much to me. I needed that time with my friends. I needed that sense of almost normalcy. I needed to have more than just text messages or social media. I know that I could use some face to face time with friends more, but that’s not an option yet. I have to take what I can, and I need to take advantage of the moments I can get with friends. I felt so much better after just that hour and felt like I could handle things for a bit longer.
The next party that we would all be having together would be Labor Day, but I don’t think any of us are expecting to be able to be together then. It would be amazing if we could, but I think we are all hoping to be together again for Halloween. And we all know the costumes will probably be some of the best yet because it would be our big reunion as a group. I am trying to stay hopeful that by October we can safely be together. But if we can’t I guess we can do a Zoom Halloween party and share our costumes over video.
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