Comp 2: 2020 (Draft)
2020 can be named the worst year I have ever lived; I doubt anything in the future could beat this year. I believe the same goes for millions of people around the world, a deadly virus confining us to our homes. If you live in England, a five-month lockdown started it all for us in March then another lockdown in November.
The beginning of 2020 wasn’t bad for me, I got to spend New Year in Denmark with my best friend. It was amazing, just getting to see the Danish culture and the unbelievably colder weather than England. I learnt so many new things there, for example, don’t leave your mailbox out or they might go boom. It wasn’t until two days before I was due to fly back home, I read in the news about a new virus that had been found in Wuhan, China. I didn’t think much about it because it was something happening so far away from me. How wrong was I?
At the end of January, things took a massive turn and Covid-19 was spreading around the world like wildfire from February to March. We all know what happened in March in England, lockdown. My college life was affected greatly, and I was out of work meaning I wasn’t earning any money and I wasn’t working enough hours to apply for the furlough scheme. I survived lockdown with £300 that I had saved up for a concert.
So, when lockdown started in March, I thought it wouldn’t last for long, but I was still taking everything seriously. However, the most unexpected thing happened. My mum got sick. It all started at the back end of March, at first, we thought it was something to do with her stomach and the doctors gave her something to soothe it. But when that didn’t work, the doctors gave her something else hoping that would work, sadly, it didn’t.
The beginning of May had rolled around, and my mum wasn’t getting better. 8th of May my stepdad woke me up early explaining he was taking my mum to the hospital for testing and he wasn’t sure when they would be back. That whole day I was begging that they didn’t find anything bad and that they could help her. When I finally had a chance to get a moment to myself from my siblings, I remember thinking, please don’t be cancer. Soon as I thought that my parents came home, and everything was quiet, really quiet.
11th of May, my stepdad’s birthday, he woke me again saying he was taking my mum back to the hospital. They came home a lot earlier than last time, I assumed that they had gone to get test results. The next day came, I had just showered and gotten dressed and I heard my older sister’s voice coming from the living room. I was a little confused to why she was here because she had moved out in February and she didn’t tell me she was coming to visit. I said to myself, “I’ll go down and say hi in a minute, I need to do a little bit of college work first.”
It wasn’t long after that my stepdad came to my room asking me to come downstair to the living room. I finished up what I was doing and went down, I was talking to my sister like nothing was wrong. When my youngest sister entered everything went serious and quiet, I remember my mum sitting in the corner with her hands joined. She looked at my stepdad then at everyone and she started talking about the hospital and how she’s been ill recently. Then she said the three words everyone wishes they don’t have to hear, “I have cancer.”
Choking. That’s what it felt like, someone was choking me because I didn’t know what to say. My mum went on to explain she had limited time left; I knew what that meant but I didn’t want to admit to it. My youngest sister asked, “Does that mean you’re going to die?” That was the only time ever in my life I hated myself because no ten-year-old should have to ask if their parent is dying. Even though I already knew the answer, when she replied yes, I ran out to my room crying.
As the day went on, I contacted my friends and college explaining the situation, that’s all I could do. They were all so supportive, I’ve lost count with how many times I’ve called them crying at midnight, still not wanting to accept what was to come.
District nurses started visiting, making sure that my mum’s pain was under control and manageable at home. However, it was about two weeks and a half later she was taken to a hospice. She passed away with her husband of seventeen years next to her. My mum was loved and will always be loved even if we can’t see her, I know she will always be with me.
