Grace’s Essay

To say that my brother’s congenital heart defect has affected my life would be an understatement, in my opinion. I think an more accurate answer would be that it has turned my world upside down. Samuel was basically born with half a heart, to keep it simple. He was born when I was 6, I was just excited that I got to see my grandparents all the time and stay with them while he was in the hospital. He had his third heart surgery when I was about 9. I loved bringing my robot to the hospital and driving Dash (the robot) up and down the hallways, while Samuel followed with his oxygen hookup. At one point, I even wanted to do that for other kids like the clowns that came into Samuel’s room. I wanted to be the robot lady. Of course, I was 9 at the time so that never really happened. Back before COVID-19 hit, I never really wished that Samuel didn’t have a heart condition. I mean, I got to go to Disney World when Samuel’s wish was granted by Make-A-Wish so I wasn’t really complaining. As time went on, I had a pretty regular life. School, more school, summer, beach vacations and so on until March 2020. I’m sure you’ve heard others describe it as the time when everything shut down. Not seeing other people except through a screen.

The problem is, we don’t know how Samuel’s body will react to COVID-19, if he were to get it. He is vulnerable to other respiratory illnesses similar to it so the outlook doesn’t seem too good. This is why whenever I touch a package that hasn’t been “quarantined” or wiped down or whenever I touch a grocery that hasn’t been washed, I mentally freak out a little. That’s the main impact on me right now. Just this anxiety that I’m going to be the one who gives COVID-19 to Samuel because of a misstep when I touch a package. It’s going to be my fault if I’m not careful enough. The fear that I’m going to be the one who impacts the whole family by transmitting a virus around.

School is going to be starting in the fall and I’m staying home. I’m going to probably see most of my classmates together on a screen. I’m nervous because I don’t want to be the only one on the screen, the left out one, all because of Samuel’s birth defect. The light at the end of this story, the possibility, what my whole family is hoping for, is a vaccine for Samuel. After he is hopefully vaccinated, I think that I am going to be much more grateful for the things I took for granted, like hugging my grandparents and hanging out with my friends. Little things that make a big difference.