To COVID-19,

It seems that you have been busy.  Infecting country after country, shutting down life as we know it, exposing the weaknesses and shortcomings of modern medicine. You’re changing the world.  Are you satisfied with your conquest?

I hope you are.  Because I know you’ve done much more than simply infect and conquer.  You’ve stolen so much from so many people. It’s impossible to gauge the full extent of your actions and crimes, but here’s what we know so far:

Many people will not have their full once-in-a-lifetime opportunities.  This includes the college students who are shackled at home instead of living their lives in the dormitory, the people having one of many firsts, and the people who will not experience some of their lasts.  You’ve stolen so many full first years of school, final bows on stage, last seasons of sports, and precious memories with friends.

Scarcity runs rampant thanks to you.  Grocery shops and supply stores are havens where one can obtain some semblance of normalcy.  However, thanks to you, it’s indirectly a free-for-all to get what one needs. In particular, people have fallen into the habit of buying inordinate quantities of toilet paper, leaving many without this simple commodity.  People are justifiably scared of you and how uncontrollably you’re spreading, forcing them to panic and make rash decisions.

You’ve stolen stability in people’s lives.  Every day, people go to and from work, making money to support themselves and their families; however, through no fault of their own, many of those people have found themselves unemployed.  How are they to pay for essential supplies? With less income, the families that didn’t need to worry about necessities like monthly mortgage now need to worry.  

I remember when you seemed so distant.  Never would I have expected the reality that you created, coming here and disrupting our everyday lives. The future seemed so bright; we were all excited for what would come.  And then you came along. Now everyone’s frightened and nothing seems certain in this terrifying new world that you created.  

You may have taken our lifestyles. You may have taken our certainty.  You may have taken some of our lives. Amidst all of this, there is one thing you cannot take: hope.

Everything is ephemeral.  You’ve created a nightmare that will scar the pages of history, but ultimately, this too will fade into memory.  Hopefully, we’ll be able to return to normal life soon. Hopefully, we’ll learn from the mistakes we made when dealing with you.  And hopefully, one day, you too shall end, for if all we can do is hope, then hope is what we’ll do.

From, 

Everyone you’ve stolen from