While the world went quiet and everyone put each other’s safety ahead of themselves, I found a sense of warmth at home with my little family.

It was terrifying at times—my health issues made it feel especially fragile, and my panic attacks were heightened—but it also forced us to slow down and reconnect.

My husband lost his job, I lost clients, and my daughter wasn’t working, so we spent months just being together, creating, and finding comfort in the calm.

We spent the summer of 2020 making our balcony beautiful—painting, fixing, and turning it into our own little outdoor oasis.

It was a dark time in the world, but inside our home it felt quiet, connected, and, in its own way, beautiful—and I miss that.