April 4, 2020 BHM, Alabama Life has been weird. Normal & unnormal at the same time. In the past, nothing have stopped my parents from working. They continue to operate their little Chinese restaurant, even under tornado warnings, big thunderstorms, black-outs, you name it. They are quite the hard-working pair - working 6 (12hr) days a week, no matter what. Until this pandemic hit. As soon as news hit that a resident in our town tested positive for COVID-19, they shut their doors. It has officially been 2 whole weeks of self-isolation at home - the longest period of time they have taken off of work in the past 12 yrs. We have watched a lot of dramas, messed around with lots of recipes, napped a lot, & stress eat while watching & reading the news. The ability to live a some-what “normal” life where my parents didn’t have to work so hard every day, where our family could actually eat meals together, where there was no pressure of the family business was a dream of mine when I was little. So weird that my dream of a some-what “normal” life is coming true admist the very not normal. What is normal anyways?
I told myself 2020 would be a year of growth and change, then this s**t happened. It’s an odd time to move in with your partner in a new relationship, but I genuinely don’t know how I’d handle it without him. It’s also an odd time to have an Aries birthday, when you decide for the first time in a decade to celebrate yourself. I feel awful for struggling so much with work when I have so many friends jobless that would kill to be in my position…but damn am I incredibly depressed. I just don’t want to admit it because I feel I have no choice but to push through it. I wish I could hug my friends and go to a beach. Yes, in early April, a cold beach sounds perfect. Just stay the f**k inside, y’all.
