“I knew it was real, but I didn't think it would come to North Carolina…Two weeks into it, I had already been to the doctor four times because I kept picking up new symptoms every day.”

“I'm old enough to remember the polio epidemic. I must have been six or seven years old. We had it really bad in Caldwell County and I have relatives who are still paralyzed from it. I was very young, but I do remember schools being closed, which was a big thing.”

“Compared to MS, my COVID experience is nothing. I've had a cold that was worse. It was just an inconvenience.”

“We've seen a lot of death, more than what I expected. I know people die in this population, but it came so fast and furious. It wasn't what I was expected.”

“One night I laid down and I couldn't get up the next morning. I couldn’t move nothing.”