The neighborhood where I grew up, nothing much changed. People rarely left, rarely got rich. Never got out of their lot in life. The person you were born as was the person you died as. This sickness, this virus, and this wall we built to stop it, has changed people. It makes all of us see things differently. Some people have caved under pressure, and the difficulties they faced have only brought out the worst in them. Other people have risen up and surprised even themselves. New, and sometimes unlikely alliances, have formed. In the search for truth, some found not only answers, but redemption. The very concept of what it means to be a family has been reshaped. Sometimes for the better. And then there are those who felt like they needed to choose between their heart, and their duty, and in the end, found a way to choose both. This cordon has changed me. The one thing I never thought I'd find in all this sadness and sickness and death is love. And I'm going to try harder and be one of the people who rises up.

Jake