By: Sara O., Sunshine Assembly
As I think back over the past six or seven months, I am trying to remember and put into words some of my thoughts and feelings. A worldwide pandemic had hit and it seemed to be spreading fast. We are only in our teen years, but most of us understood what this meant, however, we could never have realized the effect it would have for many months to come.
In March, suddenly our schools were closed and we were finishing the school year at home. OK, so maybe this wasn’t so bad. I was just finishing my freshman year, so things like prom and graduation didn’t affect me. I know it did many of my Rainbow friends, and although I felt bad for them, it wasn’t as personal for me. We could still see and talk to our friends on social media for a little while. I’m pretty sure I thought that most of life would still go on as normal, but when even Grand Assembly was canceled, I
was shocked. At first, it was possibly just postponed, so we went on with plans for Ritual Competition, making our dresses, doing our usual things to prepare for our annual convention – but it didn’t happen.
Summer came, and that too seemed ok for a while. We could talk to our friends all night and into the morning because we could sleep all day. I don’t know about everyone else, but I was kind of ok with that. Maybe it got old after a while, but now that I’m back getting up every day for virtual school, I might want those days back.
The next thing to be canceled as an in-person event was Supreme Assembly. This one was harder since I had never been to one and was really looking forward to it. It was now July, and the pandemic was still going strong. Everything was still closed down, and going places with friends was not allowed. Wow! It had already been four months! I never could have imagined something like this could happen.
Rainbow girls were all meeting virtually – on zoom calls through our phones, tablets or computers. A zoom call? Something so many had never even heard of or realized would become a very real part of our lives – for even longer than we imagined. As we try to navigate this virtual world, and try to figure out things we could still do, to not only see our friends, but we also wanted to find ways to help others and to be of service. We have found that little things like calling people who were alone, sending cards, and writing letters, all became a part of our everyday life. Even helping siblings
with their school work, and taking on extra chores at home while our parents also struggled through a virtual world – while considered acts of service, were just part of our ‘new normal’ – at least for the time being.
Sunshine Assembly was very happy to have one of the girls who were virtually initiated during the summer as our new member. We welcome Ngaire and look forward to seeing her again in person, hopefully in the near future. We also hope we can continue to grow.
While doing everything from home, or social distancing and wearing a mask hasn’t always been easy, it has also taught us about our own strengths, creativity, and our ability to accept challenges as they come our way. Sunshine Assembly thanks you, California Rainbow for helping us to find ways to be together, to have fun, and to serve – until we meet again.
