Go ahead, make me cry… At 75 I still remember the teachers who treated me as if I already were the person I wanted to be. That’s a gift a person never forgets, and it’s what you are giving your students.
Oh Betsy, that's incredibly touching. I agree, the impact of a great teacher who sees your potential and treats you with that respect is truly profound-a gift that stays with you for a lifetime 🧡
When my daughter attended freshman orientation on the first day of college, she met her best friend and future maid of honor, Cait. Eighteen years later they share the experiences of careers and motherhood where they once shared studying for exams and sharing apartments. That’s what this group of kids missed and it is sadder than sad. So is losing someone to the pandemic as Julie, Mallory and Camille did. It’s heartbreaking, as Anne Lamott once wrote, to live without someone you cannot live without. I don’t know when we will get over the pandemic, but it is so important to remember - and heal, each in our own way.
I often want to send your columns to my doctor-sister and have to restrain myself from overloading her email. This is a wonderful description of the Covid graduates. They are resilient. So are their families. I regret some of the polarization among people who knew people who died and people who didn’t. I think careless is a generous adjective for people who may have been merely thoughtless but also may have been proving a point. I’m sorry to say I encountered some maskless people who had different sort of attitudes —e,g,m “this isn’t trick or treat” or even worse, “it’s winnowing.”. Kurt Vonnegut’s Billy Pilgrim might have needed to go to another planet during the Covid era.
Your daughter's lifelong friendship with Cait is a beautiful testament to the connections we form in our youth. I find it heartbreaking to think about what these kids have missed due to the pandemic, and the losses some have endured are beyond words.
Maura, how have you and your loved ones been finding ways to heal and remember during these challenging times?
My husband lost his brother to covid and he was justified in fearing getting it himself. I think he threw himself into taking care of two golden retrievers he got at the beginning of 2022; that’s his way of healing. I try to spend time with the granddaughter I only saw once or twice during that covid year. Baby steps for me, for all of us.
Tears and memories. I was working with 7-12th graders as a speech language pathologist during Covid. When we went remote I found myself in my students’ kitchen’s, bedrooms, cars and backyards. Many of my students were high risk due to multiple disabilities. Our times we met online were so important to them and to me. We had car caravans and drove past their homes, honking and waving to celebrate the end of the school year. It’s good to remember how it was and think about how it changed us.
Another heart wrenching article that brought tears. I knew that the time of Covid lockdown was horrible for most of us. I even knew that the children and teens in school stuck at home on computers had an awful time. But you really brought home the depth of loss and the challenges of being in college at that time. Having you, Connie Schultz, in their lives made a huge difference for your students. I hope that professors and instructors all over our nation were able to touch young minds and hearts in such a way. They have been forged in the fire of enormous challenge that no one could have anticipated, and now their adventure truly does begin. Graduation here at Oberlin College is this coming weekend. I will be rooting for the graduates to go out and make a difference in our troubled world.
I will never forget the day that, in the middle of that pandemic, Mallory showed up outside my mother’s window at the assisted living facility with a sign for Mom from me. I’m in Florida, Mom was in Elyria. Mallory and her sister wanted to spread some joy, and Mom and I were the lucky recipients of a bit of that joy during some otherwise dark days. It’s a kindness I will never forget. Belssings to you, Mallory!
This is so true. I love it. "I wish more of my fellow boomers would think of young people this way. On that giant arc of history, we are barely hours apart. A minute ago, we were them, buoyed by the certainty that our lives had just begun. We know how briefly they get to feel this way."
Could not stop the tears. Wish I had a teacher with such thoughtful assignments somewhere along the line. Thank you so much for sharing all of this. And thank you for the Kurt Vonnegut quote. So good to be reminded of that.
Welcome back. Mallory’s story touched every journalist who knows her mum. Loved that you still have your thumb out - hitching a ride on these warm stories.
Oh my gosh, I’ve loved every column you’ve written but this one immediately leaped to the top. Last weekend I was in Spokane for my only grandchild’s college graduation. He was a member of the Covid era high school senior year and he missed all those great senior year activities you mentioned. His school cancelled classes for a Thursday and Friday that March and planned to resume school the following Monday. That never happened. School resumed, but it was all remote. Senior activities were like those domino formations where you tap one and the next one in line falls until they’re all tipped over; one by one everything cancelled. There was one huge difference between the specific people you included and his final year in high school; our extended group of family and friends were truly fortunate that none of us died from Covid. I can only imagine the impact those layers of pain, grief, and loss had. His college experience was also exactly as you so beautifully described … magnificent. Thank you for capturing his experience.
Hear! Hear! About to watch our smart, kind, resilient daughter enjoy Senior Prom before marching and crossing the graduation stage at Wesleyan University. In CT this weekend. She is present, finally, and living each and every moment fully. Liv stayed on campus all four years, the first one absolutely heartbreaking and gut-wrenching. But she adapted with a lot of help and love. Excelsior!
This is an important reminder of what we went through during the quarantine years. It must have hit hardest on those in their formative college years. Thank you for sharing, and caring so deeply for your students. They are lucky you were there for them.
Go ahead, make me cry… At 75 I still remember the teachers who treated me as if I already were the person I wanted to be. That’s a gift a person never forgets, and it’s what you are giving your students.
Oh Betsy, that's incredibly touching. I agree, the impact of a great teacher who sees your potential and treats you with that respect is truly profound-a gift that stays with you for a lifetime 🧡
Betsy, I'm crying, too! 🧡
When my daughter attended freshman orientation on the first day of college, she met her best friend and future maid of honor, Cait. Eighteen years later they share the experiences of careers and motherhood where they once shared studying for exams and sharing apartments. That’s what this group of kids missed and it is sadder than sad. So is losing someone to the pandemic as Julie, Mallory and Camille did. It’s heartbreaking, as Anne Lamott once wrote, to live without someone you cannot live without. I don’t know when we will get over the pandemic, but it is so important to remember - and heal, each in our own way.
I often want to send your columns to my doctor-sister and have to restrain myself from overloading her email. This is a wonderful description of the Covid graduates. They are resilient. So are their families. I regret some of the polarization among people who knew people who died and people who didn’t. I think careless is a generous adjective for people who may have been merely thoughtless but also may have been proving a point. I’m sorry to say I encountered some maskless people who had different sort of attitudes —e,g,m “this isn’t trick or treat” or even worse, “it’s winnowing.”. Kurt Vonnegut’s Billy Pilgrim might have needed to go to another planet during the Covid era.
That's a poignant and heartfelt story, Maura.
Your daughter's lifelong friendship with Cait is a beautiful testament to the connections we form in our youth. I find it heartbreaking to think about what these kids have missed due to the pandemic, and the losses some have endured are beyond words.
Maura, how have you and your loved ones been finding ways to heal and remember during these challenging times?
My husband lost his brother to covid and he was justified in fearing getting it himself. I think he threw himself into taking care of two golden retrievers he got at the beginning of 2022; that’s his way of healing. I try to spend time with the granddaughter I only saw once or twice during that covid year. Baby steps for me, for all of us.
I'm sorry to hear that, Maura. Sending you strength and blessings, stay strong to both you and your husband 🤍
Thank you Sol and the same to you!
Tears and memories. I was working with 7-12th graders as a speech language pathologist during Covid. When we went remote I found myself in my students’ kitchen’s, bedrooms, cars and backyards. Many of my students were high risk due to multiple disabilities. Our times we met online were so important to them and to me. We had car caravans and drove past their homes, honking and waving to celebrate the end of the school year. It’s good to remember how it was and think about how it changed us.
Oh my, “we are barely hours apart.” Thank you for this, Connie.
Another heart wrenching article that brought tears. I knew that the time of Covid lockdown was horrible for most of us. I even knew that the children and teens in school stuck at home on computers had an awful time. But you really brought home the depth of loss and the challenges of being in college at that time. Having you, Connie Schultz, in their lives made a huge difference for your students. I hope that professors and instructors all over our nation were able to touch young minds and hearts in such a way. They have been forged in the fire of enormous challenge that no one could have anticipated, and now their adventure truly does begin. Graduation here at Oberlin College is this coming weekend. I will be rooting for the graduates to go out and make a difference in our troubled world.
Once again you move me to tears. These students have been so lucky to have you.
Wiping my tears away, all I can think is.......you and all your students are so fortunate to be in each other's lives.
I will never forget the day that, in the middle of that pandemic, Mallory showed up outside my mother’s window at the assisted living facility with a sign for Mom from me. I’m in Florida, Mom was in Elyria. Mallory and her sister wanted to spread some joy, and Mom and I were the lucky recipients of a bit of that joy during some otherwise dark days. It’s a kindness I will never forget. Belssings to you, Mallory!
This is so true. I love it. "I wish more of my fellow boomers would think of young people this way. On that giant arc of history, we are barely hours apart. A minute ago, we were them, buoyed by the certainty that our lives had just begun. We know how briefly they get to feel this way."
Could not stop the tears. Wish I had a teacher with such thoughtful assignments somewhere along the line. Thank you so much for sharing all of this. And thank you for the Kurt Vonnegut quote. So good to be reminded of that.
Welcome back. Mallory’s story touched every journalist who knows her mum. Loved that you still have your thumb out - hitching a ride on these warm stories.
Oh my gosh, I’ve loved every column you’ve written but this one immediately leaped to the top. Last weekend I was in Spokane for my only grandchild’s college graduation. He was a member of the Covid era high school senior year and he missed all those great senior year activities you mentioned. His school cancelled classes for a Thursday and Friday that March and planned to resume school the following Monday. That never happened. School resumed, but it was all remote. Senior activities were like those domino formations where you tap one and the next one in line falls until they’re all tipped over; one by one everything cancelled. There was one huge difference between the specific people you included and his final year in high school; our extended group of family and friends were truly fortunate that none of us died from Covid. I can only imagine the impact those layers of pain, grief, and loss had. His college experience was also exactly as you so beautifully described … magnificent. Thank you for capturing his experience.
Hear! Hear! About to watch our smart, kind, resilient daughter enjoy Senior Prom before marching and crossing the graduation stage at Wesleyan University. In CT this weekend. She is present, finally, and living each and every moment fully. Liv stayed on campus all four years, the first one absolutely heartbreaking and gut-wrenching. But she adapted with a lot of help and love. Excelsior!
Thank you, Connie, for this reminder of what was happening 4 years ago. It is so very easy to forget what the country and our kids were going through.
Another powerful story and another strong reminder where we were four years ago.
This is an important reminder of what we went through during the quarantine years. It must have hit hardest on those in their formative college years. Thank you for sharing, and caring so deeply for your students. They are lucky you were there for them.