Readers Sent Us Pandemic Photos in 2020. Here’s How Their Lives Look Now.

“Now, I don’t bake because I’m bored — I intentionally make time for it.”

Jessica Shoemaker,
Menlo Park, Calif.

“My uncle Edmund, who passed away from Covid-19 complications during the pandemic. My kids never got to hug him again.”

Sarah E. Obed,
Fairbanks, Alaska

“I feel slightly suffocated by the fear of running out of moments.”

Elena Meredith,
Austin, Texas

“As strange as it sounds, my marriage is partially attributable to the pandemic.”

Aimee (Bush) Benitez,
Wallingford, Conn.

“Starting with chickens, we added a livestock guardian dog, ducks, cats, lambs and even a turkey.”

Donna Rasin-Waters,
New Paltz, N.Y.

“The pandemic was a time of racial reckoning. In addition to educating myself, the least I can do is serve local communities and learn from their traditions.”

Crystal Gerise Herndon,
Lincoln, Neb.

“I would rather die than run for the 7 train in a heeled boot.”

Amanda Glickman,
Queens

“Once again, family members are allowed to be with loved ones during their hospitalization.”

Susan B. Smith,
Downers Grove, Ill.

Marcy Buccellato,
Great Barrington, Mass.

“I am much more grateful and appreciative of all the love, family and friendship in my life.”

Giulia Pline,
Brooklyn

“Being alone with a newborn in 2020 led to horrible” postpartum depression “for myself and some of my friends. I am very grateful to have those social interactions back.”

Alicia Schlossberg,
Hershey, Pa.

“This will be the third year!”

Sue Lennox,
Scottsdale, Ariz.

“The white dress, flowers — none of that really mattered. The biggest loss from the wedding was not being with our families.”

Florence Kim and Kunal Vaswani,
Seattle

“We’re expecting a baby girl in May!”

Lindsay Pepper,
Boone, N.C.

“I kept my short hair. Every time I start to grow it out, it feels wrong, and I chop it off again. Ironically, my short hair is my trophy for all I have grown through in the last 2.5 years.”

Antonella DeCicci,
Brooklyn

“My husband and I lost seven family members, including my dad and our beloved cat. We cried, we fought, we even separated for a few months because of the stress, but we’re still here, stronger individually and as a couple than ever before.”

Amy Prosser,
Richmond, Calif.

“All those hours of practice paid off!”

Sherry Steiner,
Housatonic, Mass.

“We’ve moved on in some ways and yet always on the brink of limbo.”

Claudia Lutz,
Champaign, Ill.

“I was running for my grandma.”

Jennifer Li,
Brooklyn

“After our kids and friends’ kids were vaccinated, which took a long time for the under 5-year-olds, we got together again and made this cake to celebrate.”

Brooke Sadler,
St. Louis

“We calibrate risk differently now; there is more importance placed on ‘it’s now or never.’”

Annie McGhee,
Berlin

“During the pandemic, a bunch of women friends became ‘the ladies who hike.’ We’ve continued walking two to three times a week visiting parks all around the Twin Cities.”

Kate Clover,
St. Paul, Minn.

“There is a sense of urgency that I feel to take advantage of every moment and make memories.”

Ariel Gibbons,
Chicago

“With more circumscribed choices, I feel more focused.”

Mimi Sheiner,
El Cerrito, Calif.

“I got a pandemic pup, which changed everything.”

Hana Slevin,
New York

“I will never take hugs for granted again.”

Patricia Jablonski,
High Springs, Fla.

Diane Korach,
Brooklyn

Amy Hurst,
Columbus, Ohio

“They kept me going during the pandemic.”

Susan Thurn Smith,
Milwaukee

“Our greatest fear was the loss of our close relationship with our grandson.”

Adam Corson-Finnerty,
Bucks County, Pa.

Emily Fox,
Berkeley, Calif.

David C. Holzman,
Lexington, Mass.

“Two years were stolen from me. I was already getting ‘old’ and now I’m two years older.”

Robert Shedlin,
New York