18 | FEBRUARY 18 • 2021 

W

e don’t have to tell 
you that this time 
is unprecedented 
or how drastically our lives have 
changed due to the coronavirus, 
but future generations will want 
to learn from what we are living 
through today. 
 Throughout this experience, 
we have wondered how our 
ancestors tackled the challenges 
of the pandemic of 1918. A cen-
tury from now, our descendants 
could be asking the same ques-
tions about us. With shutdowns 

around the world, protests 
across the country and daily life 
flipped on its head, our reac-
tions and adjustments will help 
tell the story of how we went 
through such an exceptional 
time. We want to save that story.
That’s why we’ve teamed up 
to create a platform that will 
collect, preserve and, one day, 
share our experiences.

LAURA’S WEDDING STORY
Our wedding was scheduled 
for Oct. 18, 2020. The venue 

was booked, the photographer 
scheduled and the wedding 
dress purchased. Then COVID-
19 hit, and what would have 
been a classic big Jewish wed-
ding celebration turned into a 
private backyard ceremony and 
a drive-by reception. 
Instead of pictures with tables 
full of people, our wedding 
photographs captured “guests” 
with smiling faces, waving from 
their cars, safely distanced from 
us newlyweds. I never imagined 
our wedding would be a live-
streamed event, but it allowed 
loved ones from all over the 
world to connect with us on our 
special day. 
This was not the version we 
planned, but it forced us to find 
a new, still meaningful, way to 
share the milestone with our 
community. No doubt, it was a 
day we will always remember. 
Our photographs and mem-
ories from this simchah will 
be shared in the COVID-19 
Archives Collection, adding a 
piece to the puzzle of how our 
community adapted to life in a 
pandemic.

ROBBIE’S LIFE-THROUGH-
SCREENS STORY
For some of us, the pandemic 
has not been marked by missed 

celebrations or juggling work 
while homeschooling kids. 
Instead, it has been end-
less hours of isolation with 
little more than Netflix for 
company. When the stay-
at-home order was issued 
in March 2020, I assumed it 
would be just a few days or 
maybe a couple weeks. I had 
no idea I would not return 
to my office until July 27. 
The work I was able to do at 
home filled my days and kept 
me sane … until I was fur-
loughed in April. Suddenly, 
time lost all meaning. 
Alone for months, my 
only respite were trips to 
the grocery store and long 
walks when the weather 
was nice. Zoom calls with 
family and friends helped 
some of the loneliness. But 
most of my days were spent 
on the couch, reaching the 
farthest depths of streaming 
service catalogs. Using the 
questionnaire on the COVID 
Archives website, I will be 
documenting my ups and 
downs over the past year and 
reflecting on how this time 
changed the world around 
me.

WHO TELLS YOUR STORY?
This COVID-19 Archives 
Collection project seeks to 
ensure the memories — from 
the celebrations to the mun-
dane to even the painful 
moments — are preserved 
and made accessible to any-
one in the future. A collec-
tion of your photographs, 
videos, journal entries or sim-
ply your thoughts on life right 
now, will all come together to 
tell the important story about 
how our community navigat-
ed this historical moment — 
even as we still live it.

PHOTOGRAPHER, JULIE YAKER, EYECATCHER EVENTS

Instead of letting future generations 
rely on snippets from the newspaper 
or a random photograph, let’s give 
them the gift of knowledge and 
certainty.

You Have a 
Pandemic Story. 
We Want It.

ROBBIE TERMAN, LEONARD N. SIMONS JEWISH 
COMMUNITY ARCHIVES 

LAURA WILLIAMS, RABBI LEO M. FRANKLIN ARCHIVES

OUR COMMUNITY
Signing of the ketubah: Laura 
Williams, Jacob Allen, Rabbi 
Aaron Bergman (standing), Lee 
Trepeck (signing) and Jon Shaw 
(back to camera). 

