Through Pain Comes Beauty | This I Know

Published 8:30 am Tuesday, May 5, 2020

Two summers ago, my sister and I went to get our ears pierced. I was going to get a second piercing for each ear and my sister was going to get her first piercings ever. She was so nervous walking in, but beforehand she had picked out a beautiful pair of sparkly silver hoop earrings to wear when her lobes were strong enough.

She sat in the chair and asked to hold my hand, so I took hers and mine and she asked: “How were you not scared to get your first piercings?”

“Of course, I was scared! What are you talking about?” I replied.

“But you looked so calm like you do right now, how do you do that?”

“On the way to getting my first piercings I was really nervous, so to cheer me up mom said that it is a few seconds of pain for a lifetime of beautiful earrings. I realized that a future with earrings is way more exciting than a few seconds of pain.”

To this day my sister and I say the same thing when we are scared: It is a few moments of pain for a lifetime of earrings.

Humans have never experienced something like this COVID-19 pandemic and no one knows what the absolute best thing to do is. But, based off of data social distancing has allowed for the number of people infected with the disease to go down, and if we continue social distancing that number will continue to get lower.

Isolation is one of the worst things for a human to experience, and that is often what quarantine feels like.

This is why I believe that what my mom told my sister and I two years ago is the best piece of advice I will ever receive.

Right now hurts a lot for a lot of different reasons, no one can deny that. But if we survive these months of pain, we can have many lifetimes without COVID-19.

If we stick together through the pain, we will have a lifetime of earrings.

Chloe O’Brien is a sophomore at Bainbridge High School.

Editor’s Note: This I Know is a Bainbridge Youth Services platform for youth voices. The monthly column showcases student beliefs, most often through their own stories. BYS is a nonprofit organization that offers free, confidential mental health counseling, free tutoring and job services to youth 13 to 21 years old. Check out our website: www.askbys.org.