Covid Collage

I started it when the covid separation from family and friends became insufferable — when physical forays into each others’ lives had morphed into calls, texts and the occasional unruly clan zoom. Which was interesting in terms of the Raskin Bad Habit of talking over 25 relatives.

(Hello mute button.)

Anyhoo, I don’t remember the exact moment when I thought to do it but it became A Pandemic Project. I ordered magnets along with many bulletin boards to affix them to, and got to work on the blank canvas.

I’m a very visual person (with the exception of things like maps and illustrated directions — seriously, Ikea, what the hell?) and I knew that seeing the faces of my loved ones would bring great comfort every time I ducked into the powder room to … powder. So I went through the tower of disorganized cartons of photos barely containing our lives in an upstairs closet—starting pre-Keith and me, (with grandparents in early twentieth century poses) coming straight up until now.

Last June’s graduation pics were duly submitted.

If the idea of a very communal bathroom is a tad weird, think of it as a two-way mirror in a cop show. It’s not like they can see back.

The thing is, some of the beloved subjects are no longer with us on earth but still I get to see their faces every day. In one old snapshot my bossy grandpa, (consequentially) wild mom, beautiful nephew and auxiliary brother were captured at an 80th birthday party held in a DC restaurant. They’re all gone now — but, obviously, still together, staking out good seats for the rest of us.

After Operation Warp Speed (thanks, Trump and I mean that from the bottom of my heart) worked, when masks got put away and things ‘opened back up’ (in the words of our three year-old granddaughter who basically had never truly known anything but Purell, social distancing and closed childrens’ museums) our family members began visiting in person. They all make unnecessary bathroom stops to count their appearances on the wall; then rearrange placement in order to enhance personal visibility. Some of them ruthlessly stack their own pics in front of cousins and siblings. A pentimento of family photographs. Us.