A Family’s Journey Through COVID-19
By Lauryn Thompson-Robinson and Melva Thompson-Robinson
Hi, everyone! Here is a glimpse into my life and that of my family members during the COVID-19 global pandemic. I am Melva Thompson-Robinson.
March, 2020, I was starting to come back to work after surgery. As I worked from home, I watched the news broadcasts about this new virus that was starting to sweep the globe. I couldn’t help but notice how quickly this coronavirus was spreading. Little did I know how chaotic things would become with my family.
In early March, my mom, Ireesa, who lives in Las Vegas, had traveled to Aiken, South Carolina for a mini family reunion. She was staying with my cousins. All were having a great time together. My youngest son, Dorian, is a student-athlete at UCLA. He and the team had just started spring football practice. Everything was looking up.
Unfortunately, coronavirus was spreading quickly in the United States. I got a call one morning from Dorian. “Mom! They shut us down! Athletics came in and cancelled practice.” He was supposed to come home that weekend for spring break. But with the rising number of new COVID-19 cases in California, UCLA’s campus was soon closed and football practice was on hold for the time being. I changed his flight so that he could come home earlier, not realizing that he would be home for months and not weeks.
Meanwhile, things here in Las Vegas were changing fast. Schools were coming up with plans to go to online learning for the rest of the academic year. I called my mom in South Carolina and told her to change her flight to come home earlier than planned. She didn’t understand why she needed to come home early as things seemed normal in rural South Carolina. I told her that the governor was closing the casinos. Those words seemed to jolt her to the reality that things were changing, as she’s seen that the casinos never close. She changed her flight to come back early. She quickly realized how fast things were changing when she stepped on a flight with only 16 people from Texas to Las Vegas and then arrived at a near empty McCarran International Airport.
Now with my kids and mom safe in Las Vegas, we started to figure out what our new normal was. Dorian and Lauryn, who is in high school, adjusted to the new normal of attending school online. I adjusted to teaching and working remotely. We all, including the pets, had to adjust to being home together all day, everyday as the three of us had not lived under the same roof for an extended period of time since Dorian left for college in June 2018. Meanwhile, we visited my mom from time to time in person but limited our contact with her because of her high risk of adverse outcomes from COVID-19 due to her age. Some days, not being able to spend time at her house with her was not easy for any of us.
Lauryn and Brownie, the beagle, getting ready for the first day of online high school. Photo/Lauryn Thompson-Robinson.
We watched the news day-by-day as things progressively got worse. In March, Lauryn and I attended the women’s Pac-12 basketball tournament. We saw how they were cleaning everything in the arena. Then, in the blink of an eye, the professional sports world began stopping games, seasons, and workouts. As my daughter and I are big WNBA fans, it was tough to hear the news that we would not be able to watch our Las Vegas Aces play in person. The professional sports world soon began to look at the chance of “bubbles.” Locations were chosen, and we were now able to watch our favorite teams and players do what they do best.
As a collegiate athlete, Dorian is used to working out regularly. Unfortunately, facilities were closed. He had to be creative to keep himself in shape. His older brother, Christopher, is a professional MMA fighter. Dorian asked him to teach him how to box. During their sessions, Lauryn would take pictures of them for Dorian’s social media as she is a budding photographer. For me, as a mom, it was great to see them all doing something together since they are so different in age (15, 20, and 31) and are rarely able to spend long periods of time together. It was also refreshing for them to spend time together, supporting each other without a lot of outside noise from others.
Dorian (UCLA shirt) and Christopher (white and yellow tank top) working out together.
Photos/Lauryn Thompson-Robinson.
At the beginning of July 2020, Dorian returned back to UCLA for football workouts with the uncertainty of whether there would be a football season in the fall. While our fingers were crossed that a season would happen, we also had to be realistic in light of what had become a global pandemic. In late September, the PAC-12 conference decided to move forward with a shortened six game football season. California ruled against having fans in the stands so we had to attend games out of state. Fortunately, Christopher, Lauryn, and I along with Christopher’s girlfriend, Alayna, were able to travel to Tempe, Arizona to watch Dorian and UCLA play against Arizona State University for the first time in over a year. Leading up to the game Lauryn, the budding photographer, was able to spend time in our cousins’ photography studio in Phoenix. It was great for her to experience that creative space and learn about her dream career. During that weekend we were blessed to be able to spend time with cousins and one of Dorian’s teammates’ family in Phoenix. Spending time with family and friends, who have become family, has taken on a completely different meaning now.
Left to Right: Alayna, Christopher, Lauryn, and Melva at the UCLA vs Arizona State Football Game. Photo/Alayna Halverson.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, as a family, we started to value more of our time together in person as we connected in ways we had not before when things were “normal.” We found ways to support each other, whether it was starting businesses, helping each other work out, or taking leftovers to my mom to make sure that she has food that she can easily prepare. We also savor, more than ever, the moments that we have together, as nothing is promised.
Photo/Lauryn Thompson-Robinson.
Melva Thompson-Robinson is a single mother of three and professor in the School of Public Health at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
Lauryn Thompson-Robinson is a member of the class of 2023 at Bishop Gorman High School in Las Vegas and a budding photographer.
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