“You see, she’s been fighting mental illness on top of a pandemic. She’s been worrying about her kids every second of the day. She’s been trying to make everyone’s world as normal as possible, and guess who’s forgotten? Her. Don’t let her carry all the burden alone.”
“At the same time as this, I had two other kids hopping on their google meets, I had to pull my oldest from her work to hold the baby, the kids’ Dad had a call just starting, and as I struggled with my laptop to even find which Godforsaken link I needed to even click, I was ready to crumble.”
“I always had a perception of what ‘outside people’ would act like when I told them, ‘I carried my son as a dad.’”
“As I type this out, my son is outside earning money by cleaning out part of the garage and cleaning up the flower beds. Guess he wants that video game pretty bad! Allow them to earn money through good ole work.”
“Quarantine can feel lonely. It was evident both of them missed companionship and shared learning.”
“My sweet boy wasn’t talking, and he was growing increasingly frustrated. His sensory sensitivities were unpredictable. I do know I avoided saying ‘yes.’ But I couldn’t say ‘no.’”
“My husband is suffering. He’s about as sick as I’ve ever seen him. He doesn’t ask those people if they think Covid is fake, or who they voted for. He doesn’t ask whether or not they can pay their bill. He doesn’t care. He just wants to make them well. And in caring for others, Ian contracted COVID-19.”
“I started snapping at my family and avoiding the few social Zoom meetings I was invited to. I was gripped every day by a threatening cloud of anxiety of ‘not getting enough done’ and ‘not taking advantage of this time off.’ My husband sat me down on the couch. ‘What’s going on with you?’ I dove right in.”
“Suddenly my biological father, who was unfit to care for a child, received custody of me. I got on a plane to go across what felt like the world to live with someone I could barely remember. But my saviors didn’t give up.”
“I sat there, rapt, as she began to deconstruct every assumption I had about her life like someone unraveling a sweater. She was desperate. Her husband had come home and said he had something very important to talk about. Layla was so sure he was about to admit to cheating with his favorite employee she burst into tears.”
