graphic by Nakya Castille
Aviva.
I remember the week of March 9th, I found out that other schools, such as Mullen, had already shut down and stated that they would have an extended spring break. I was so confused talking to my friends about it all week during eighth period. We all wondered what would happen while our teachers began handing out Google Classroom codes and Schoology schedules. Then, on Thursday, March 12th, everyone found out that we would not be returning to school until April 6th, or so DPS thought. Finding out school and school related activities had been canceled for the spring didn’t really affect me as much as it did others. I wasn’t in a sport at the time and my clubs only met once a month, so nothing would really change besides having a three week spring break. On that Friday, I watched as the senior athletes cried about their last high school season getting canceled, and I felt for them, but I carried on with my life. After school, I went on a quick sunset hike with some friends, I went out to dinner with them, and then we hung out at our friend’s house. Little did I know that would be the last time I saw them for about two months.
My parents were, thankfully, very strict about being quarantined. I spent my time baking, drawing, painting, going on long walks, hanging out with my dog and my siblings, and of course, binge watching many movies and TV shows. The first weeks of quarantine relaxed me. I didn’t have to worry about school, and all my time could be spent on myself.
Once April came along, I began to feel stress. Suddenly, it was April 6th and I logged into my online classes. At first, I kind of liked it. I mean, why wouldn’t I? I got to attend class in bed, play on my phone during class, and on Fridays I got to sleep in. The thing I hated most was that classes became boring. Physics, one of my favorite classes because of the labs we did, became a book report class. Math became an independent course instead of working with partners. French became a course where you submit videos of you speaking French instead of having random conversations in the language. I began to miss TJ more than I ever thought I could.
One of the only things that got me through the quarantine stage was my dog. He was the cutest and fluffiest thing I ever laid eyes on, and looking at him always made my heart happy.
My dog had always been sick since about October 2019, but it was never too concerning. Then, in September/October of 2020, he had what is known as cluster seizures (long seizures that are very close together) so of course we took Copper to the vet, although since he was already on medication for his joints and his seizures, there wasn’t much for the doctors to do. On October 2nd, I went camping with my friends and surprisingly, I had a connection at a campground in Dillon. Suddenly, I saw texts from my parents telling my siblings and I that Copper had more cluster seizures that night so they had to take him to the vet for an emergency appointment. Of course I was very unsettled, but there was nothing I could do an hour away from my house. The next morning on my way back from camping, I was so anxious to see my dog. I got home and my parents told me that Copper was so sick he had to spend the night in a seizure ward at the vet. All day, my parents and I were waiting for a call from the doctors saying that he was ready to be picked up. Well, we got a call, but they said that Copper needed to spend another night in the ward because he had more seizures, and he needed to go 24 hours without having one.
After three days, we brought Copper home. He was so out of it from his new medication that he didn’t recognize me or any of my family. His recovery was long, but he was basically back to normal, right?! Well, for a couple weeks he was.
We continued to give Copper his medication, and we never missed a day. Super suddenly, he had another seizure and right then we knew that there was probably nothing else to help him. It all happened in such a flash, and the next thing I knew we were taking him to the vet again. My family collectively decided that if the vets said there was seriously nothing else to do, we would put him down. And of course, there was nothing else to do for him.
October 23rd, 2020 was the worst day of my life. My dog of almost 12 years, my dog that I have had since I was four, was dead. The only thing that got me through this was knowing that he had an amazing life and he didn’t want to suffer anymore.
After I got through most of the grieving period, I started to look at pictures of puppies on Petfinder, because looking at pictures of my dog was too overwhelming. We found a lot of cute dogs, so we contacted some shelters/rescues about a few of them. One rescue responded and told us that they were on their way to Colorado for a “puppy drop off” and very quickly on November 12th, we got a puppy.
Being at home without the happiness I had before March 12th has left a huge hole in my heart. Since March I have felt so much loss, from losing the ability to wander TJ’s halls to losing my lifelong best friend, yet I have never lost hope that 2021 will get better.
