Postcards from Peekskill: Portrait of a family during a pandemic

Dear reader,

Normally I’d be writing to you from the Peekskill Coffee Shop but today they are doing take-out orders only. We are all hoping this is simply a moment in the life of our town but who can say. Things are weird here, just like everywhere else.

I’ve been lucky enough to have lots of family and friends checking in on us. I reply stupidly with things like, “We are hanging in there” or “We are ok for now”. When what I really want to write is all I am about to here.

The truth is, time feels like it’s standing still. Some days this feels like punishment, where we are paying for all we took for granted. Other days this seems like the greatest gift I’ve ever been given, forced time at home with my family. Quiet hours to read the books I meant to finish, watch the movies that bring me comfort and eat at home with food we cooked ourselves. But let’s be real, this is damn hard and an emotional rollercoaster we are being forced to ride daily. We are indeed getting by.

Maybe it’s easiest to tell you first about who the “we” is here, give you a portrait of a family during this pandemic.

Jim is my husband. He’s 45 and has adult on-set asthma and is addicted to video games in a way that usually annoys me. Lately I’m so happy he hasn’t…