COVID-19 How Far We've Come I no longer feel like I'm staring down a dark tunnel with no visible light.
COVID-19 The Limits of Our Protection Despite all of our efforts, we still managed to brush up against Covid.
COVID-19 A Day With Lots of Feelings Yesterday morning, my 11-year-old woke up with a cough. He had coughed a few times the day before, but nothing regular. I chalked it up to “reactions to springtime weather” and gave him some Benadryl. But yesterday, it crossed the line into “persistent cough.” Every morning, my kids have to
anniversaries One Year of Pandemic Later It has been a year since had any type of “normal.” On March 13, 2020 we pre-emptively kept our kids home from school. We saw the writing on the wall that schools would likely be closing due to COVID-19, and we were right. Later that same day, our governor announced
COVID-19 Hindsight is 2020 On December 31st, 2019, I spent some time not only reflecting on the year, but also the decade. And now at the end of 2020, it feels like I have lived another entire decade in a single year. In so many ways, we are fortunate. We have jobs that allow
COVID-19 A Remarkable 100 Years My grandmother certainly lived a life unlike most. From traveling the world to her hobbies to her longevity, she was unique and always had a story to tell. My grandma — my last living grandparent — passed away last night around 5:00 pm. She was 100 years, 8 months, and 12
COVID-19 A Different Thanksgiving Celebration I'll do my best to find new ways for us to have joy at home, but it will be hard.
coronavirus Doing the Best for Our Family I was positive that my kids would be returning to the classroom this Fall. Illinois has been careful in its reopening, and kept Covid-19 mostly controlled. A little over a week ago, our school district announced its reopening plan with two options: 100% remote learning, or a “hybrid” model of
COVID-19 The Things I Do Now "Pandemic Parenting" has turned me into the kind of parent that I never wanted to be.
coronavirus To Myself, 6 Weeks Ago Today marks 6 weeks since our confinement at home started. Quentin refers to it as the “coronavirus conundrum.” I think he simply likes the combination of words, but the days feel like a constant pull of being grateful that we are safe and healthy, and increasingly going crazy by the
anxiety The Last Thing I Did "Before" Everything happened so quickly in a matter of days in March. As the news from Seattle grew more serious, with large tech firms ordering their employees to stay home, major sporting events, theaters, and other gatherings announced their closure. “Social Distancing” became a term we all knew. Various states began
coronavirus Planning for the Worst When I was pregnant with Autumn, I had a hospital bag packed. It wasn’t the typical “If I go into labor early, this is what I will grab as we rush out the door” bag. It was the “If the doctor tells me that my baby has no heartbeat,
coronavirus The Movement of Past Years Every day, I look at my social media content from past years. Between Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter I post a lot. It has always been my way of capturing memories with our family. I am up to 634 days in a row of looking at Timehop, as an indication of
birthdays A Birthday We Will Never Forget Quentin turns 8 years old today. We could never have imagined a birthday like this one. Our schools are shut down, at least until April 6th, but I am guessing that it will be longer. Restaurants are closed to dine-in eating. We had plans to go to a hotel and
coronavirus In the Face of a Growing Pandemic Somehow, this week went from "growing concern" to "everything hit the fan" in the past 48 hours. We have been following the spread of COVID-19 (coronavirus) since the outbreak in Wuhan, China. I remember the spread of bird flu (H7N9) and swine flu (H1N1) years ago. H1N1 in particular was
