Diary

Community Diary Response from Brenna J.

2020-04-29 / Jennings, Brenna

006_BrennaJ_gramps-funeral.jpg
NameInfoActions
006_BrennaJ_Response.pdfpdf / 712.38 kB Download

Entry into the Community Diary. Includes color photo of funeral.

~ Jennings, Brenna, “Community Diary Response from Brenna J.,” Portsmouth Public Library's Online Archives, accessed March 28, 2024, https://portsmouthexhibits.org/items/show/2420.

Full Item Record

Dublin Core

Title

Community Diary Response from Brenna J.

Subject

Portsmouth (N.H.)
COVID-19 (disease)
Diaries

Description

Entry into the Community Diary. Includes color photo of funeral.

Creator

Jennings, Brenna

Source

Community Diary: Portsmouth Covid-19 Pandemic 2020

Publisher

Portsmouth Public Library, Special Collections

Date

2020-04-29

Format

PDF
JPG

Language

eng

Type

Text
StillImage

Identifier

PPL-MS: 2020.4.006

Diary Item Type Metadata

Tell us a bit about your situation during this time period (employed / remote learning / caring for loved ones / sick / quarantined / etc.)

"My husband and I are both currently employed, but both recognize that's not guaranteed indefinitely. He's an essential worker for the City of Portsmouth DPW, I've always worked from home for a New York City-based nonprofit"

What memory of this time do you think will stay with you?

"Attending the virtual funerals of my two remaining grandparents within 3 weeks of each other."

Has this experience changed you? If so, how?

"I don't know that it's changed me so much as made me more aware of certain aspects of living, made me more clear of my boundaries and what kinds of traits in friends and family I'm willing and unwilling to overlook."

What has been the most challenging part of this experience?

"Without question the inability to be with family through two huge losses. The morning after my grandmother died I let a friend give me a hug and it felt criminal."

Explain or describe the shared photograph(s)

"This is my view of the virtual funeral for my grandfather held on Long Island, where I'm from, where some of my family still lives, and where he died at 89 after contracting COVID-19 in his nursing home. My family couldn't follow the casket to his burial. Three weeks after this, my grandmother, also pictured here, died unexpectedly. I realize this is a very intimate and maybe uncomfortable image to share, but I think it's important to remember all of the repercussions of this pandemic, not just the statistics."