A Teen's Take

POMEROY–If you had told me a year ago our daily life was about to change drastically, I probably would have laughed. As we all know, 2020 did change in a very unexpected way which has been terrible for our lives and community. Since then, we have learned to deal with lockdowns, restrictions, lack of social interaction and limitations as best we could, but it is taking its toll.

Yet, I think we’re all hoping with the availability of vaccines, COVID-19 restrictions and shutdowns can be lifted so we can live life normally again in the new year. However, a small part of me doesn’t want to get my hopes up because, all that is ask of us will probably remain the same.

With that said, and to be honest, I really don’t enjoy writing about the pandemic and how it has affected our lives because everyone already knows. COVID-19 is all we read, hear, and talk about and I’m tired of it! Don’t get me wrong, I, along with others, greatly appreciate the efforts our amazing community has made to make everything as normal as humanly possible. But the restrictions make it difficult to find good topics to write about when everything we do is affected by this pandemic.

Now our that the Christmas season is here; our celebrations are going to be done in a different way with some tradition poked in here and there.

Traditionally, at our house, my family decorates our house for the season, inside and out, which always puts me in the Christmas spirit. Another tradition we do is visit our elderly family members. This year we have had to come up with inventive ways to share and communicate, so we used technology. Messenger became a way to talk with them while other times we would meet in-person by standing on their porch and visiting through the window. It wasn’t the greatest, but OK for now.

My friends and I did start our own traditions, one by taking a trip to the locomotive park in the valley to experience the lights and take some pictures we could share. We also built gingerbread houses together. It was great fun and many memories were made doing something new.

It is so important to finish off this treacherous year strong and appreciate all that is good in our community. It’s been rough, but for the most part, we’ve done alright.

I hope everyone enjoys the holiday celebrations and are getting ready to enter a New Year!