2020.

The year no one planned for. The year no one expected.

Everyone has their own stories related to 2020. How they persevered through a year like no other.

My story began with my husband deploying, the day before we went into lock down to slow the spread. I quickly realized I didn’t want to be stuck alone in my apartment, so I started the trip home to Texas. My first stop was with my sister, her husband and their new puppy.

Like many parts of 2020, things didn’t go as planned. I thought I would stay a night or two. Instead, I stayed for two months.

Our days in lockdown were unique. While it was hard there were plenty of silver linings. If my husband hadn’t deployed and we hadn’t gone into lock down I never would have spent two months getting to know my brother-in-law. I wouldn’t have had the chance to live with my sister again, the last time I lived with her I was a senior in High School.

Perhaps the most interesting part of 2020 was trying to explain to my husband what it was like at home. That we couldn’t just go to the beach. That we had to wear masks. That we weren’t leaving the house. That we were staying 6ft apart. That I couldn’t just go see my parents. He was a ship. Away from our new reality. He was in a bubble far from ours. He wasn’t watching the news 24/7 like the rest of us. I quickly found it was easier to send him photos instead of words which inspired me to start taking photos. Photos of the empty food isles, photos of the unusual signs, empty beaches, trying to capture these unique times.

Not only did I want to share these photos with Philip, but I also wanted to preserve this unique chapter in our lives. I wanted to be able to tell the generations to come, what it was like to be in lockdown, what it was like to survive a pandemic.

I captured more than people wearing face masks. I captured the silver linings. I captured the kids playing in the street. I captured the facetimes. I captured the quiet little moments that I was learning to appreciate.

2020 was a year like no other. A year of hard ship. A year of loss. A year of adapting. A year of coming together while being apart. A year of strength. A year the world came together like it never had before. A year we persevered.

Here are few of my favorite images from this project.