Crying in the Rain

I remember April of 2019 like it was yesterday. I was packing for a trip to 

California. We stayed in a magnificent house with a pool and hot tub and those big 

comfy chairs. When we got home, I went on a trip with my chorus to a theme pack. Life 

was so strange because I was content. But I was. I was actually happy. The year 

passed so quickly, but every day seemed to crawl by. If you had told me in December 

that I would be learning from home for months and being in constant fear of my family 

getting hurt, I would have called you crazy. I first heard about COVID-19 in a class 

where we were watching CNN 10. I had no idea what it would become. I gave it one 

thought and then went back to my normal life. Slowly, it became more and more 

prominent. My friendships were straining, my family was losing money.  It was crazy. I 

especially remember one day, two weeks ago, I was walking my dog in the rain. I had 

on my big red raincoat. My best friend had just told me that her mom was threatening to 

home school8; her because of the amount of work that our school was giving her. I 

couldn’t survive school without her. She stopped replying to my texts and refused to talk 

to anyone. She was stressed and scared. I couldn’t stand to see her like that. I stood in 

the rain crying. The hot tears were combing with the cold drops of rain, and life seemed 

so hopeless. It seemed like life couldn’t get worse. The stress only got worse from 

there. School gone, family stressed, friendships strained. Everything was collapsing 

around me. Things started getting better, but it is so scary going through something that 

no one knows how to deal with. The adults we rely on to teach us and get us through 

things are just as helpless as we are. I know that I will get through it, though. We simply 

need positivity. We will survive if we stay strong and just do our part. It will be okay. 

That is not the biggest lie anyone ever told, but rather the biggest truth. Maybe in five 

weeks, maybe in 5 years, but it will be okay eventually, and until then, we’ll have to look 

at the bright side. 

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Nicolette Kirwan is a student at Archie R. Cole Middle School in East Greenwich, Rhode Island. She is a 2019 and 2020 Write Rhode Island winner.