COVID Diaries Preface
a novel
*COVID Diaries is a paid subscription
As You Read…
You’ll be wondering if this is true. Are these my diaries? Did I defy this many quarantine regulations? Did my children climb onto the roof to shout apologies to one another? Did the wildlife take over our residence? Did we hold a neighborhood safety meeting during the George Floyd protests? Are Paul and Shannon and Beatrice and Jacob real people?
Essentially, no. These characters don’t exist. I don’t have twins. My neighbor didn’t wear a respirator every time he went outside. And both my and my husband’s parents are alive and play active roles in our lives.
Let’s call this historical fiction then. Many of the events in these pages did actually happen to me and my family, but I’ve altered so many details to brighten the scenes, quicken the pace, and protect the guilty, that it would be impossible now to separate fact from fiction.
The point is these things could’ve happened. Maybe they happened to you or to someone you know. Reality is such a unique combination of absurdity and hilarity that no one but God could make it up. And as a creature fashioned after the Great Author’s own image, I replicate here my best attempts to trace Providence’s threads through the first several months of COVID, when most of us were watching the news and wondering, “What in the world is going on?”
I hope you laugh out loud. I hope you see those COVID days in a different light. I hope this story spurs you to ask, “What was God doing with me, with my family and friends and this nation during this very unique time?” And I pray you find those answers.