Turning 21 in Quarantine
By: Sabrina Franco
Tags: Birthday, Reflections, Coronavirus, Covid 19, College

I turned 21 years old on Saturday, May 2, otherwise known as Day 44 since Texas began adopting Governor Greg Abbott’s “essential services and activities only” policy.

Turning 21 was supposed to be a highlight of my junior year that I could share with all of my friends. However, in the midst of quarantine, my plans had boiled down from the party extravaganza teenagers dream up for themselves.

“Working together, we must defeat COVID-19 with the only tool that we have available to us — we must strangle its expansion by reducing the ways that we are currently transmitting it,” Abbott said at a press conference on March 19.

With these words, Abbott began Texas state government closures on nonessential businesses and limiting social gatherings of more than 10 people. Abbott’s closures came following a declaration of emergency from state health commissioner John Hellerstedt.

“. . . The communicable disease known as COVID-19 in the State of Texas has created an immediate threat, poses a high risk of death to a large number of people and creates a substantial risk of public exposure,” Hellerstedt said in the declaration.

As the days go by, we are pushed further and further away from our standards of social behavior. Though we are fighting for a return to normalcy, our daily lives remain hindered by the spread of COVID-19. We shop at grocery stores, but only with masks and 6 feet of distance. We hold meetings and classes, but only over Zoom. We contact our loved ones and experience milestones in our lives, but only through screens.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, I was one of over 300,000 children born between the end of March and the beginning of May in 1999. We turned 21 inside our homes with our families and roommates, celebrating not by going out but staying in.

When I realized I wouldn’t be home for my birthday, I had not expected to do much of anything to commend the day. Dallas had only just begun the process of reopening businesses and the threat of COVID-19 remained imminent. As much as we would all wish to ignore the dangers of the virus, I could not help but view any demand from me for socializing as irresponsible.

During this time, it is virtually impossible to avoid the news stories surrounding the spread of the virus. “Current events” morphed into updates on the coronavirus. Staying informed has become a civic duty to keep one another safe. In an environment that has been left in an emergency state for so long, it becomes nearly impossible to focus on keeping up with social aspects of our lives, especially something so seemingly trivial as a birthday.

“Fear and anxiety about a disease can be overwhelming and cause strong emotions in adults and children,” the CDC said on their website.

Overwhelming seems the most appropriate word. Much as I can bury myself in my studies and spending time with my quarantine-era roommates, it is impossible to ignore the holes in our lives left from COVID-19 and the lengths society has gone to in order to combat its circulation. Something so simple as running back inside to grab my mask still shocks me when it occurs to me how ridiculous it would have seemed only a few months ago. For me, it is easy to get stuck on the negatives in any situation, much less a global pandemic causing massive shutdowns in our society.

When my birthday rolled around, I was ready to treat it like any other day. However, when the evening came, my roommates surprised me not only with gifts, but even a cake complete with candles. No matter how ridiculous I’d considered a birthday, their gesture meant the world to me. Crowding around an Oreo cake with the three of them was even better with my parents there via phone. I felt really happy in a way I was not sure I could be in this state.

Our reality is not what it was three months ago. Things are dire, and we do need to be careful. However, the truth in those words does not change that our lives are still happening. We’re still growing older and wiser, even at a distance.

A few birthday candles mean so much more than we give them credit for. They represent how we move on and make the most of a terrible situation. It’s not the birthday I would have chosen for myself, but it’s still mine.