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Think about the people closest to you. Tell us about how the coronavirus has affected them, and their life.

Coronavirus has affected everyone in my family to one extent or another. My father's mother passed away in late March (not COVID related), and we were unable to have a funeral for her. That has really negatively affected my grandfather, who is in his early 90s and has to live alone knowing his wife was not properly laid to rest. My dad has been compartmentalizing that, I know. Pushing it away because there's nothing that can be done now. He has also had to start working from home, which he's actually really good at and it keeps him busy. But I know that getting away from the house is good for anyone's moral, and being home all day definitely raises the tensions among us all. My mother's father had an accident while wood-working in his garage and had to have surgery on his hand. We aren't able to go visit with them like we want to because my grandparents are especially strict with the restrictions due to my grandpa's various health ailments. Both my sister and I were laid off from our jobs, my sister's college graduation ceremony got canceled, school for the second semester this year went online completely. My partner decided to move from his apartment back home in Virginia because he has also been working online. He seems to be doing well, and loves to be surrounded by his family when he gets the chance, but as a Black man he is definitely having an increasingly hard time dealing with the emotional labor around the murders of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and now Rayshard Brooks. He's been vocal and participated in protests, and is also concerned about catching coronvirus because he has bad asthma. There are so many people who are having a harder time than I am, and all I can do is be thankful and use the privilege that I have right now to advocate for others that do not have that same kind of privilege and try to make the world a better place for all of us.