SARS-CoV-2 claimed my mother’s life this past March 2021. As I never failed to appreciate the risk of the novel coronavirus pandemic looming over the world early in 2020, I had worried, in advance, about Mom. Maria Claudete Sary, a person of humble education and habits, lived in southern Brazil, over 5,000 miles away from […]
Write On, Colorado
Amid violence and COVID, the memory of my grandfather stands as an inspiration
With over 450,000 cases and 6,000 deaths due to COVID-19 in Colorado, our community has spent the last year grieving the unexpected toll of the pandemic. Last month’s massacre in Boulder further shook our foundation, damaging our trust and feeling of safety with one another, just as we begin to emerge from isolation. Amid these […]
My family in Colorado has adapted to COVID, but I worry for my Brazilian relatives
A year ago I shared my perspective, as an immigrant, about the COVID crisis. To say that a lot has changed in the U.S. and my native Brazil since then is an understatement. As we settled into relative isolation here, my husband lost his job when his company closed its Denver office. Fortunately, he was […]
A world away, the coronavirus allowed me time to reconnect with childhood Colorado friends
COVID-19 certainly didn’t come in the nicest ways but we need to accept that it was God-sent and gave us so many lessons to learn. Maybe it made us more disciplined than we could have ever been. It also gave us time to reflect on a few important things as well. For my family, it […]
At first I felt lost in the coronavirus, but have finally come to grips with uncertainty
Six months ago, I found myself reflecting on my first half-year of pandemic living. A spring and summer of near-total isolation, non-stop chaos, and unfathomable suffering had sapped any semblance of optimism that March 17, 2020 Matthew held onto, leaving in its wake a despondent September 17, 2020 Matthew. I was scared another six months […]
When coronavirus life got me down, I found hope by exploring comedy
At the beginning of this pandemic, everywhere I looked there was something to bring me down. These were bleak times. No toilet paper. Each news story scarier than the last. Everyone stuck in the same place day after day. People judging one another’s decisions, when everyone was just trying to make it to the next […]
The coronavirus inspired me to write in praise of home schooling — but not the way you think
In Praise of Home School I see my neighbor through the aspen tree.Usually in suit & heels at a desk downtown now she’s home in baggy sweats, intent on deconstructing a pile of delivery boxes creating a cardboard idol to order. On a walk, a grey brush rabbitsits half-in, half-out of a hedge. His nose pulsates; mine feels red & […]
For Colorado fence-sitters like me, the coronavirus reinforced a love for our equine companions
After a seven-mile ride in mud and snow, I bring the horses back to the paddock, toss them hay, and sit on the fence. Sitting on the fence is not a metaphor, it is what horse owners do as we watch, contemplate, and maybe – though it seems highly indulgent – cherish our time with […]
We asked you to Write On, Colorado during the coronavirus. You delivered.
This week you’ve heard from virtually the entire staff of The Colorado Sun as we’ve offered a look back, and a look ahead, after one year of the coronavirus. Along the seemingly interminable road, we also wanted to hear from you, our readers. Inspired by the call to write during this pandemic issued by novelist […]
We are in this aloneness together: Reflections on one year of Coloradans responding to the call
This time last year, Colorado had its first COVID cases. And soon after, The Colorado Sun responded by starting this “Write On” column. Now at about 170 pieces and counting, it has offered a chance for Coloradans to share their bewilderment, epiphanies, stories, and heartache of the times. Although we were uniformly shocked by the […]