This is part of a series I would like to thank you for. We asked our readers to tell us who helped them get through the pandemic. These are their story choices.Other articles focused on family and friends When health care worker.
Who helped them get through the pandemic? When we asked our readers, they mentioned friends, old and new, family, and healthcare workers who cared for them and their loved ones. But some have never even met the person who helped them.
One who found solace in LeVar Burton’s reading podcast, one who discovered Korean supergroup BTS, one who resonated with Lily Tomlin’s character in “Grace and Frankie,” and one who never missed a local musician’s music. One person who didn’t. His daily web performance.
thanks for the podcast
In November 2020, Mary Ghosn, her husband, and two daughters moved out of their 900-square-foot apartment in Brookline, Massachusetts, to East Brewster on Cape Cod. The popular summer vacation town was empty, ideal for avoiding Covid.
then she knew “Lever Burton Reads” A short story podcast from Reading Rainbow host and Star Trek: The Next Generation actor Mr. Burton. Mr. Gauguin’s daily walks in the woods turned into literary adventures.
“We left the city and it wasn’t clear how we were going to get back. How was our life going to continue?” Mr. Gogan, 57, said. “Was there a light at the end of the tunnel? This is where you found me.
On one walk, Ghosn listened Mr. Burton read “The Mother of Invention” by Neddy Okorafor. A future version of Nigeria will be set. It was snowing on Cape Cod, and Mr. Gogan felt sick. “She felt like she was in a bubble,” she said. (At the start of every show, Ms. Burton invites listeners to take a deep breath and encourages Mr. Gogan to incorporate her breathing techniques into his life.)
Ms. Gauguin and her family moved back to their Brookline apartment last February, but Ms. Burton remained a calming presence for her. , had heard of it on the Stitcher app, but hadn’t before recommending it to about 10 friends.
“At the worst time of the pandemic for us, I just want him to know that this has had a huge impact on my life,” Ms. Gogan said. He tells me a little bit about why he chose this, what it meant to him, how he connected with it, I felt very isolated, it’s you It’s like sharing something about his life, rather than just reading a story to him.
After Ms. Gogan turned in her memo, the New York Times flew her to California to meet Burton for the first time. He later said he often met fans who, like Ms. Gauguin, had been following him since his “reading rainbow” days. But Ghosn’s relationship with the podcast was particularly moving, he said. He immediately felt a kinship with her.
“It’s like meeting a friend for the first time,” said Burton. “We share all this history when we first met. I could tell that if we lived closer we would see each other.” .
Thank you for the “butter”
Joanne Orrico’s antidote to pandemic fatigue appeared in a YouTube thumbnail last summer. Mrs. Orico started the video and she felt the change almost immediately. “butter,” Relentless catchy hits by K-pop group and global sensation BTS filled her headphones.
“I heard it and then I heard it again,” said Mrs. Orico, 56. She said, “I thought, ‘Oh my God, this is amazing.'”
Mrs. Orico, a school librarian in Las Vegas, was feeling anxious and depressed from the pressure of having to put on a happy face amid much suffering and political turmoil. But as she learned more about her seven members of BTS — Jung Kook, V, Jimin, SUGA, j-hope, Jin, and RM — upbeat personalities and positive lyrics, she regained her spirits. For Mrs. Orico, BTS “talked” to her during a tough time.
“It’s important to spread kindness and acceptance and love,” Mrs. Orico said.
Mrs. Oriko, who is of Japanese and Chinese descent, said her immigrant mother had always stressed the importance of acting like an “American.” Mrs. Orico didn’t understand the power of representation in the media, but that changed when she learned that the South Korean group had a fan base around the world. , Mrs. Orico was proud that people all over the world are enjoying BTS songs.BTS songs are mostly in Korean. It was the impetus for me to start making
BTS fans call themselves ARMY (Adorable Representative MC for You). On April 15, some of them packed the Allegiant Stadium in Paradise, Nevada. At the concert, Mrs. Orico overlooked a sea of military members, many of whom were dressed in purple, BTS’ signature color.
“I met people of all ages, men, women, blacks, Asians, Mexicans. Grandpas, grandmas, little kids and everyone. There was nothing like it,” she said. “For that short time, nothing else existed.”
Mrs. Orrico’s favorite moment was when the group performed “life goes on,” A sombre, pandemic-themed song that brought Mrs. Orico to tears when she first heard it. Mrs. Oriko, who attended her concert with her friends who shared and reunited their BTS fandom for the first time in 30 years, said her group sang songs in a more upbeat tone.
“It was just pure joy and happiness, like they were so happy to be there,” she said. “We felt that too.”
thank you for being frankie
Hilary Almeida put her laptop by her husband’s bed and fell asleep listening to the Netflix hit “Grace and Frankie.”
It was April 2020 and Mrs. Almeida believed she had Covid — she had lost her senses and sense of smell and was experiencing fatigue, headaches and low-grade fevers, but domestic supplies were running low. I didn’t get tested because I was low — and didn’t want to infect her husband, a doctor.
Grace (Jane Fonda) and Frankie (Lily Tomlin) were Mrs. Almeida’s muses when her husband slept in her guest room for several months at her Teaneck, New Jersey home. She felt a special affinity with Frankie, a caring and eccentric artist. Mrs. Almeida, 65, worked as her ESL teacher in middle school. Her symptoms had escalated during her two months, so I played her show on a loop after her workday.
“This vulnerable character, I could relate to all this,” said Mrs. Almeida. “She was fine. Yes, but she was full of emotion.”
Like many others, Mrs. Almeida first discovered Ms. Tomlin on the 1968-1973 television show Rowan & Martin’s Laughin’, but her fandom grew into Grace and Frankie. ” to another level. During her pandemic, she watched with her mother after her chemotherapy appointment. Her practice became even more important after her mother died and the pandemic hit.
Grace and Frankie are an odd couple who stumble and develop a friendship after their husband reveals he is in love. At Frankie, Mrs. Almeida hit it off.
“I love her,” said Mrs. Almeida.
thanks for the lullaby
At her San Diego-area home during the pandemic, Janelle Cannon and her cat Taliesin set up a routine around 9 p.m. each night.
Cannon poured himself a glass of wine. Taliesin was curled up in his bed. Together, we listened to Semisi Mau play “Lata Lullaby.”
Mau, a San Diego-area-based musician with grey, Albert Einstein hair, shared a song written in honor of his mother on Facebook Live nightly with different families from March 2020 to March 2021. played. and piano, which lasted about five to ten minutes, and Mr. Cannon was among the locals who tuned in.
“I never got bored,” said Cannon, 64. “Familiarity helped me deal with uncertainty.”
Mau and his family played the same songs every night, but one musician was always given time to play solos on guitar, drums, and so on. Cannon especially enjoyed watching Mau play the Fangfang (nose flute), which is popular in his native Tonga.
Ms. Cannon, author of the popular children’s book Stella Luna in 1993, was isolated, but she was not alone.
“Everyone loves Semisi,” she said.