Three years later: From behind the mask to…beyond the mask

BY KATE WALTER

Within three years, I’ve gone from behind the mask to beyond the mask. Last week I got on the 14th St. bus and reached into my pocket for my mask and I couldn’t find it! How did this happen? Every coat I wore had a mask in the pockets. I never left the house without one. I automatically replaced my mask when I threw a used one away. Public transportation, especially the subway, is one situation where I still wear a mask.

During these past few months, I’ve realized everyone is in different stages with their physical and emotional recovery from the pandemic. That was c lear when I gave a pandemic writing prompt to the students in my memoir class at the se- nior center. I was moved as they read their work that recalled the rituals and restrictions of the lockdown and the overall impact on their lives.

I wrote obsessively about the pandemic as a way of soothing my anxiety. This resulted in my memoir in essays “Behind the Mask: Living Alone in the Epicenter.” (Many of