Dear Katie,

Good evening. Or morning, depending on when you're reading this – I know it's not the afternoon, because that's when you're hunkered down in front of your laptop, fingers clacking away on the keyboard as you respond to what feels like your millionth D2L Discussion Board prompt of the week.

At least, that's how things are going now.

How have things been? Has everything sort of adopted a grey, sickening type of sameness yet?

Do you still wake up around 9ish every morning, only to quite literally roll out of your bed and pour yourself a sad little bowl of cereal and sit in your sad little chair, the one you've sat in for nearly every meal for as long as you can remember, and scroll through Twitter for about fifteen minutes straight?

Are you still unable to make it to the "bottom of the bowl" because the most recent news makes your stomach drop a bit?

Do you still make your bed, then workout, then respond to emails, then eat lunch, then do homework, then make some tea, then do some more homework....all up until around 6 PM, when it's time to consume some premade, frozen Trader Joe's delicacy with your mom and call it dinner?

Have you changed up your playlist a bit? It used to be full of very low-tempo, very sad sounding songs.

Also, how many movies have you now crossed off your "must-watch" list? I remember how much fun you had in making that list, thinking it would make all this feel a lot less scary and make you feel a lot less sad about leaving your friends and your favorite study spots andsorority life and Schroeder Hall and everything about Marquette for the next month.

Possibly longer.

I do hope that you've managed to settle into some sort of routine by now that doesn't make you so sad. I do hope that the days feel more colorful than they do right now, and that you've truly learned to make the best of these rather difficult, strange times while they're here.

I do hope that you've FaceTimed your friends at least once. Hopefully twice.

I do hope that you're starting to find a new normal.

And if you haven't, then get going – things will start to change again soon enough.

Love,

You, 9 Days Ago