3 years ago, on March 25 2020

My sister, Tara came out to visit me in Puerto Rico. We were working on some fun projects, both of us trying to get our lives figured out. We had heard some rumors that there may be an island wide shut down, but none of us really understood what that would look like at all.

We went about our business, made sure to go to the beach, because when I’m stressed out, I like to spend time in the sun and surf. Right about this time, when we were taking these photographs, we got all got messages on our phone that said that we needed to return to our homes and the island would be shut down. Again, we really didn’t understand what that would look like or what that would mean. We thought maybe it would just mean that no more tourists were allowed in, but we would be able to go about our business as normal. We found out very quickly that Day That our idea of an island wide shut down was far from reality. We could have never been prepared for what reality had in store for us. Within a very short time we were confined to our homes, only allowed to leave our homes and drive according to the numbers on our license plate, and only to go to the grocery store, doctors, office, pharmacy, and very few other places. the mask mandate was in full affect yet there were no masks to be found anywhere on the island. They had all been purchased and sold out already. People were making masks out of random things like wet wipes, old T-shirts, ripping elastic out of random articles of clothing to make masks, etc. fortunately, many people around us bought sewing machines, had sewing machines or hand stitched masks for the community. Including my seamstress at the time. In fact, everybody was so overwhelmed with work, making masks that I couldn’t even find a seamstress to work on costumes, so I had to start doing most of that work myself again. Moments outside of the house were few and far between. Leaving the house was particularly difficult because there were police everywhere, and if you left the house, the police would come and tell you to go back to your house. Even walking the dog was not allowed. The beaches were closed down after the day these photographs were taken, so we couldn’t even go to the beaches and experience the water and the sunshine. there was a lot of time stuck inside the house with nothing else to do but drink, smoke, and watch TV. I got in a lot of dance practice during that time and a few other indoor activities. My sex life really took positive turn during that time, because quite honestly, that was the only other free activity that interested us. It was difficult to find food because the grocery stores emptied out so quickly. I’m used to being able to go to the grocery store and stock up and prepare for a heavy snow back home, in Illinois but there are only so many people on this island, and there are only so many items in the grocery store, so we definitely had to buy only what we needed for the next day or two and make sure that we left enough for the community to be able to purchase their groceries as well.

Obviously, we found ways to entertain ourselves. Even though gatherings were prohibited, we found ways to get together, go to the beach, work around the rules in a responsible way, but often times we were caught and told to return home or told that there were too many people in our group or in our home so we had to disband. We were only allowed two people per car for quite some time, and both addresses had to be from the same home. There were a lot of rules and a lot of confusion. I’m not saying any of the rules were right or wrong, everyone was in a state of confusion and panic, and everybody did the best they could with that. But I do remember the morning that I woke up to see city workers scrubbing the streets with bleach and hazmat suits, which I thought was so strange… There was a definite apocalyptic feeling about it all. Looking back on these photos takes me to a very strange time. I was blessed to be able to have my sister here with me when all of this went down, and even more blessed to be able to have my partner by my side in a loving and caring relationship that only grew to be more loving and caring through this traumatic time. I remember thinking how terrible it would be to be stuck in a house with an abusive partner, or somebody that I did not like. I was very fortunate and still am to this day. I’m lucky we made it through, I’m thankful for that time that I got to spend with my partner and my sister, even though it was stressful for all of us. I think the best and the worst came out in all of us through that, and we all still love each other more than ever. anyway I’ve heard people say that a picture is worth 1000 words and I think I may have just written 1000 words about it. What a wild ride it’s been.