Thanks to @OliviaMesser for writing this.

I broke last year.

I spent five years covering the impact of a president who launched his campaign by calling my people rapists and drug dealers and then had to report on how COVID was affecting my city. https://studyhall.xyz/the-reporters-are-not-okay-extremely-not-okay/

I don't know what would have happened to me if I'd had to cover COVID when my parents got sick with it. I definitely have no clue where I'd be if I was reporting on COVID when my dad died because of the virus.

My father's death is very fresh and I feel sad about it every day, but it came on the heels of me doing weekly therapy for several months and just trying to take care of myself at home. After realizing that my dad recovering was impossible, I felt some relief when he passed.

I share that because there are still a lot of people around the country with relatives dealing with long COVID. And I just want to say that whatever they are feeling right now is valid. And if any journalists need to hear this, I hope it helps.