This past September 2019, I moved into my own photo studio space for the first time, and it was bustling. I photographed multiple covers for The Boston Globe Magazine, as well as athletes from the Celtics, the Patriots, and ad campaigns and magazines features for numerous other clients. The kids were happily in school, and my husband was set to travel to conferences in San Francisco and Las Vegas for his company, Cinematography Database. I was honored to be giving the commencement speech for New England School of Photography’s final graduation. I had multiple ad campaigns, book covers, and magazine features booked for the spring, and was so excited about the upcoming year.

And then, what felt like overnight, everything changed. Within days, with the rapid spread of COVID-19, suddenly my shoots were canceling, one after another. Within a week, my entire schedule for the spring had been cleared. The New England School of Photography graduation was cancelled. Matt’s conferences were all canceled. My beautiful studio, busy with energy and excitement for the last six months — was suddenly quiet and empty. At the same time, Massachusetts schools were closed down and overnight, and I found myself a full-time homeschooling Mom! Luckily, my husband runs his company and develops his software from home. I began managing home-school for our children, while also taking on graphic design and photo editing projects from home.

It’s been a busy few months, navigating this new life. It’s been an emotional change at times, but I’m really appreciating this special time with my kids — being an active part of their day-to-day learning has been a treat for me and I’m having a lot of fun coming up with creative ways to educate and entertain them/

Our primary concerns are for the health and welfare of our family, friends, and community. And sharing our gratitude to our essential workers, first responders and health care workers, who are so bravely and selflessly continuing to work to keep our society functioning, and to care for patients during this challenging time. It’s difficult to fathom how much this pandemic will affect everyone in our country, from medically, to economically, to emotionally, and beyond. I hope that everyone in the Clark community and beyond is staying safe and healthy during this difficult time and I’m sending my best wishes to all.