Page 69 - FDCC Pandemic Book

Living in a Pandemic: A Collection of Stories on Coping, Resilience & Hope
dinner together. Within a few days, all six tested positive for Covid-19, with none becoming seriously ill and each of them quickly recovering. As an educator, Ryan will be a priority for the vaccine, but the wait time for some in Spain is around three years. In reality, he will most likely be vaccinated upon his return to the States for the wedding.
EMILY-ELON UNIVERSITY
Our youngest, Emily, attends Elon University in Elon, North Carolina and for the fall semester her third year studied abroad in Berlin, Germany and Cape Town, South Africa. Like most students, she was forced to return home after campus closed to in-person instruction in late March, 2020.
An excellent student majoring in Human Service and Psychology, she earned a reputation with her professors for insisting that her 8:30 a.m. classes be rescheduled until later in the day since it was 5:30 a.m. on the west coast and was unfair. Following closely on the heals of her success rescheduling classes, Emily somehow convinced her parents that not only did she need a car for her senior year, but that she needed for us to drive with her across country from California to North Carolina. So in mid-August, 2020, that is exactly what we did via the southern route through Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Tennessee. This is a road trip we will never forget, and Debbie’s first chance to travel since Scottsdale.
Upon her return to campus in the fall, Emily was fortunate that most of her courses have returned to in-
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