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How is the coronavirus pandemic affecting your life right now? Tell us about your experiences, feelings, and thoughts.

I heard about this project on NPR, and I wanted to contribute in order to memorialize my experiences for the future. I am still recovering from the COVID infection I received last year. I was on medical leave for the last half of 2020. I went back to work January 2021 but still get very fatigued, especially when talking with people because I am still experiencing word-finding difficulties. My boyfriend and I want to get married, but we are waiting for him to get a job. He has been unemployed for a whole year. Thankfully he is living rent free with family and has his immediate needs cared for, but it has been a frustrating situation for us both. I am working from home, but I had to go to the office today to print off paperwork to mail out. Unfortunately, the postage machine was broken, which meant that I had to come back home to mail out the documents. Something as simple as mailing something out becomes a huge hassle. I am tired. I haven't been sleeping well for the past two weeks or so, but it's hard to parse out what is depression, and what is work stress, and what is my continued COVID recovery, and what is what I call "COVID-depression," which is the mental state that we as a society are finding ourselves in. I am encouraged that the J&J vaccine was approved and is starting to be distributed, and I am waiting my turn. I am hoping that I can get my vaccine sooner, since I have a number of underlying health conditions.