It was the day I had been dreaming about for years. My 21st birthday.

I was the last out of all of my friends to turn 21, so it was a big deal because we could all finally go out to places together. Everyone was looking forward to it, especially me.

I was ready to dress up and have fun with my friends but of course that didn't happen because COVID-19 swept in.

When I first realized that I would be spending my 21st birthday at home with just my family I'm not going to lie I was super disappointed. It wasn't going to be the big birthday bash with my friends that I had envisioned, but rather I was going to be at home with my family and not be able to see anyone else.

However, I tried to put my best attitude forward as I know there are so many people who have it way worse than me and that birthday's were the least of their problems.

So on the day of, I was surprised when I actually had a pretty good time.

I was able to meet my boyfriend half between our houses at a rest station and see him. Well we had to stand 6 feet apart but it was still nice to be able to see him for the first time in over a month with all of the craziness in the world going on.

My parents got signs celebrating my birthday to put in our front yard and we had an amazing dinner complete with cheese fondue, streak, and chocolate fondue.

It definitely was not the big birthday part that I had been planning and dreaming of, but it was still special in every way.

I could have been completely alone but instead I at least had my family.

It has been a hard lesson for me to learn, and I think it has been a hard one for many other people as well, but I realized that while my expectations about what the future would be didn't matter any more because there are people who are really hurting.

There are people saying goodbye to loved one's for the last time over the phone instead of in person and people are sacrificing their lives to help end this disease every day. COVID-19 took away my birthday party vision, my study abroad trip for the summer, concerts, and so much more.

However, in the middle of it all it also taught me to be more thankful for what I have been blessed with.

So to anyone else who is missing something because of the COVID-19 just try and remember what you have and not what you lost.