Story and Photos by Sam Oughton

Once I’ve left Rochester, N.Y. and went back home to Pennsylvania it’s been a lot easier to deal with the situation. While I was in Rochester, I was all alone but now I’m with my family and it makes me feel safer. During this time I’ve gotten closer with my step-siblings. They are both younger than me and when we all moved in together I left for college so we never bonded much. 

Now I do my homework with my step-sister and I talk to my step-brother whenever I see him around the house. Since my stepsister, Johanna, is now in her first year of college I find it a lot easier to talk with her and we’ve gotten pretty close since this quarantine has happened. My favorite time is during dinner when we pick on my stepbrother Daniel and my dad. Even though this has been a very tough situation I am thankful that it has brought our families closer together. I always had a hard time when my dad remarried, but things have definitely mellowed out as the years have gone by and I now enjoy spending time with them. 

During the week the people in our house are my stepmother, my step-siblings and me. My dad still goes off to work which provides transportation to the elderly and people who need assistance to get to places. Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 my dad has had to furlough many of his employees, but he is fortunate enough to still be able to go to work even if though there have been less people to transport.

My stepmother works for a non-profit called ACLAMO in Norristown, PA and though they have had to close down completely, she still has her job but her paycheck has been cut down by 20%. One night my parents sat us all down and told us that because of this situation we have to be careful of how we spend our money because there is a chance that either one of them could lose their job and we will have less money coming in. It certainly helped us all understand how serious the situation is. 

Since being at home my parents are trying to find ways to keep us all busy during the time so we aren’t bored. One thing is game night where we all go down into the basement and play the wii. Now I’m a competitive person so when I’m playing against my dad I go all out. Whoever wins has bragging rights and trust me I would throw it in my dad’s face if I did something better than him, just as he would do to me. 

I honestly love spending time with my dad, he is my favorite person in the world but since I’m always away I don’t get to see him so much, so now being home I get to spend more time with him, even playing games or just sitting on the couch watching TV. My favorite position is lying on the couch with my legs in his lap while laughing at video game fails by other members of our family members. We are also starting a night called Fancy Fridays. We are required to dress up and look nice and have a couple cocktails before dinner, then we end the night by playing games together even if my stepsister complains about having to spend more time with us. According to her she is already “sick of all of our faces.” Even though she complains I know she is having fun with the big smile on her face.