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Abstract

In March 2020, when the COVID-19 outbreak was declared a global pandemic, I feared that I would never see my parents - who are 79 and 81 - again. Grappling with my fears of this novel disease, I decided to drive from my current home in Iowa to my original home in Buffalo, NY, where they live. The next three months were a challenge that ultimately proved to be rewarding. This essay is a creative nonfiction piece about the experience of going back to my original home and accompanying my parents through the first three months of the pandemic; themes discussed include our conflicts over politics and ideology, the difficulties of an adult only child in individuating from parents, and the familial love that endures despite these obstacles.

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