Last night after dinner I heard someone talking in the kitchen. I went looking and it was from the freezer. I checked and it was the last cookie calling out that it didn't want to be in that plastic bag any longer. So I obliged and ate it. We were both much happier!

Mom is also lonely. Dad died a year ago January. They were together for 62 years. Before the virus, Mom tried to stay busy walking every morning, working out in the yard, helping out with things like no-sew blankets for the Linus Project, and getting out each day for a drive to the grocery or Lowe's or to pick up a new book to read.

During the past seven weeks of social distancing, Mom hasn't gone out. While we are concerned for her physical health, we also see the toll it is taking on her emotions and psyche. She started to worry that she would lose her ability to do the things that keep her independent, like driving. She and my sister hatched a plan. Mom got on the freeway Thursday and went to Pasadena to share a socially distanced lunch on my sister's back porch. Mom was thrilled and proud and relieved. As she would say, "I'm tickled pink to know I can still do it!"

As I talk with educators, I hear the same worries. How will this time of Stay Home-Stay Safe affect our students - socially and academically? What will the return to the classroom look like? And, when will it happen? Will I know what to do when we start back?

Please know that you've had what it takes all along! You have been using your skills and talents in new and unprecedented ways during the past month, learning to adapt and provide what is needed by your students and their families. And like my mom, you're part of a team. The uncertainties we face, we face together. Each day I am encouraged and strengthened by the team of educators I am proud to be part of and with whom I am collaborating.

*Thanks for letting me share stories of my family with you during these challenging times. Their stories are really our stories. As a historian, I am trained to listen and observe individuals whose records collectively become our story, or history. I hope you see yourself, your students, your friends, and your family members in these weekly stories. Who you are and what you do is part of how the story of Covid-19 will be written. You matter. You count. You are loved.