By submitting my contribution, I'm agreeing that:

* I'm at least 18 years old.

* The Yale University Library may display my submission(s) on this website and preserve them as part of a publicly-accessible library collection.

* Unless I indicate otherwise, my name will be associated with my submission(s).

* The Yale University Library reserves the right not to display and preserve my submission(s).

* I am the creator of my submission(s) and I will retain copyright over them. If any part of my submission(s) was created by someone else, it is not being used in a way that infringes on copyright. My submission doesn't include sensitive information that shouldn't be shared publicly.

* At any time in the future, I can ask that my submission be removed from the site and the Library's collection or that my name be removed from/added to the description of my submission(s).

* I'm at least 18 years old.

* I'm at least 18 years old.

Short biography. Consider including any information about yourself that has affected your experience of the year (e.g., your work, who you live with, your age).

I am 75 years old and live with my husband of 43 years. I have lived all over the United States, but in Connecticut for the last 44 years, my favorite state of all the places I have lived. In November of 2020 I broke my wrist while digging a bed around a large tree, I walked into a low branch to check my work and fell back on my arm. and in December, right after the surgery, I came down with COVID and 3 days later my husband got sick also with COVID. We were very lucky, we were sick a little over 2 weeks, with flu like symptoms, but there was a time that I thought about the real possibility of dying of COVID. It made me think about what was important to me and I reflected on my life and what really matters. It made me realize that the things that are important are the people you love and the beauty in the earth and sky. I let go of the things that I could not change, and vowed to appreciate the priceless things that are all around me in the time I had left in this world.

Your location within the Greater New Haven area

Madison

Date submitted

August 22, 2021

If any part of your submission was created prior to today (e.g., a photograph taken earlier in the year), please tell us when it was created.

December 2020

How did you hear about the project?

The Source newspaper

* I'm at least 18 years old.

* I'm at least 18 years old.

Share your 2020 reflection using the submission form below. Your submission will be shared here on the project website and preserved so that future generations of Greater New Haven residents can better understand what life was like at this transformative time. (See Frequently Asked Questions for more information.)

Not sure what to say? Here are some suggested prompts:

* What do you want people in the future to know about what life was like in this time?

* What do you think you will remember most about 2020? What are your hopes for 2021 and beyond?

* How have you dealt with uncertainty during this time?

Title

Slowly Filling Streets

Your reflection

I often walk. Downtown, the woods, and over years, across all of New Haven's neighborhoods.

I spent much of Spring walking close to home. The streets were empty. Downtown, vacant. The few people there squinted over masks at each other, crossing to the other side of the street, offering a nod during the passing.

As the weeks wore on, folks returned to New Haven, returned to work, and began the building back toward normalcy. Amid rife injustice, political maelstrom, a ravaged environment, few jobs, and real existential threat looming just feet away, we built toward normal.

People filled the streets more and more. This new normal where some carried placards along with disposable masks, megaphones clutched in gloved hands. Others carried torches, flags, and guns.

Some of us were lucky and gave way to laughter, to socially distant fireworks displays, to backyard barbecues and porch-performance of song. There were dogs being walked. Strollers being pushed. The streets filled more and more.

This has been a time when reality and symbolism interweave. Time, more important than ever, is suspended and indeterminate. We're walking metaphors – but we're walking anyway.

As of 25 September 2020 in the United States, there are 190,076 among us who are not.

Your name (Required)

Steve Ross

I've lived and worked in New Haven for over twenty years.

New Haven - East Rock

Title

Trying to see the positive

Your reflection

We are now nine months into the societal restrictions necessary to control the pandemic. I am grateful for my safe home which is now also my place of work, I am grateful for my job and my health. I continue to look for positive notes each day. I have not lost weight, written a novel, or baked even one loaf of sourdough bread but I am trying to learn something that I can take with me into the future. I am very grateful to have adopted two wonderful rescue cats before the shut down occurred. They have become my co-workers.

Your name (Required)

Christina Kennedy Woodford

I am the 4th generation of my family born in New Haven. I work in development at Yale and reside in Hamden.

Hamden

Date submitted

November 20, 2020

Email from MSSA

* I'm at least 18 years old.