Harold and Bernicestine Bailey are Chair and Secretary, respectively, of the town’s diversity action committee (TEAM Westport) which works throughout the community to spearhead engagement surrounding targeted equity initiatives. Harold is a retired IBM executive who held multiple senior executive positions in general management and marketing, while Bernicestine was a systems engineer who also worked with IBM before becoming principal of her own consulting firm nearly forty years ago. The Baileys have lived in Westport for 32 years. 

As a society we are in a cultural freefall right now. We haven’t come to terms with what’s really going on—that this is major, it’s not temporary. Even if the pandemic were solved tomorrow, we have yet to understand what got us here and to determine how society will respond.  

Day to day, we still try to extend the foundation of the work on which TEAM Westport was focused before the COVID crisis (since there is no way of knowing what the world will be like when we come out of this). When it comes to race and ethnicity, in a lot of ways, we’ll have to look at each other and get down to what’s really important. We’ve heard reports of racial bias against Asian-Americans as a result of misguided beliefs about the Corona Virus—even before mandatory social distancing. We’ve heard about such incidents both within schools and among adults. Obviously, this is not singularly a Westport phenomenon, but it’s here. 

It does make you wonder if this COVID situation will make everyone to some extent the “other” as they experience fear of contact from people with whom they were close before. If everyone gets a taste of being “othered” for a while, the question is: How do you come out of it? Will people say “I’m never doing that to anyone again” or will they end up in denial saying, “I’ve lived through it and moved on. You people should as well.”? 

In our own family, it’s been difficult in several ways. Our son, who was raised in Westport, recently moved to town with his own family. Just when we were enjoying having them close—especially our little grandson—this happened. We once experimented with going to Sherwood Island to walk around and talk with them as a physically distanced group so we could at least see each other. However, we have since discontinued even that.  It is extremely frustrating that we can’t run up to our 3-year old grandson and hug him. We can’t wrestle like we used to do. Normally he’s in our arms. We can see he’s frustrated too, although it’s for his own safety and ours as well. It’s a mutual thing.  

Our daughter and other grandson are in Florida where she is a pediatrician. We’ve been spending time trying to help her shift her practice toward online patient services and tele-medicine platforms where it makes sense. It’s a challenge because she works with a population that can be distrustful of technology in the first place.  Of course, technology helps us personally because we can FaceTime our grandson but, of course, it’s not like being there. 

The key, ultimately, whether we talk about community or within the family is that we have to focus on staying as connected as possible so we have the greatest potential for coming out better on the other side of this transition.

Along with everyone, our daily routine has disappeared. We are building new routines together and making efforts to stay connected to our work and school networks for community and mutual support. 

In our busy world, with all of the pressures we experience daily, we have found, as a family, despite the seriousness of this moment, solace and comfort in not having any reason to run off but to simply be together. Family stories of surviving the war in Europe (WWII) have always communicated a sense of what is important. We draw strength from these memories and connections. 

We appreciate how care and concern can grow in a moment like this. We appreciate the work and effort many are making behind the scenes to extend support to others. We feel it is our responsibility to understand that our actions, now, matter for future generations. To not miss this opportunity. To make certain they don’t suffer in this same way. To prepare. To become better and give that to the future.

My husband David and I (NAME) are both self-employed. I’m an artist; primarily a printmaker and painter. All of my art shows have been canceled – along with summer plans for a printmaking residency. The Center for Contemporary Printmaking in Norwalk, where I regularly worked using the printing presses and darkroom, has also closed. After working with the kids schooling during the day, I’m now trying to maintain a home-studio practice in the late afternoons and evenings. David is an economist and has been working the last several months on launching his own company – the future of which is now quite uncertain. So, we will both be looking at how to pivot our work and hopefully find a way forward. 

As an artist, I am used to working alone and having stretches of quiet time to think and create. Having three kids at home 24/7 who are distance-learning through school, means very little time for my work. Even when I manage time in the studio, it is hard to quiet the mind and escape anxiety about what the future looks like in a post-pandemic world. I know that my artwork will change – but in what way remains unclear. I mean, all artwork is influenced by time, place, and events of the day. I will just keep showing up in the studio, doing the work, and trusting the process.  

We are spending loads of time with the kids (Xavier, 14, 8th grade; Nathaniel, 12, 6th grade; Maeve, 8, 3rd grade). In addition to their schoolwork, we’ve worked on family art projects (right now we are painting rocks to hide around town), lots of games (favorites seem to be Apples to Apples, Kids Against Humanity, Exploding Kittens, and my oldest has created a new Dungeons and Dragons campaign for us to do as a family – I am now a Sorcerer named Hazel Mylove). The kids are all trying something new, but each week this seems to change. This week our youngest is learning to code via Khan Academy, our 6th grader is learning to cook with online Gordon Ramsey videos through Masterclass, and our 8th grader is fiddling around with music on a keyboard. I’m also spending an inordinate amount of time in the backyard with my daughter’s flock of chickens. It’s easy to escape the daily stream of bad news while watching chickens be chickens.  

Westport has been incredibly quick-acting and responsive to this crisis. I am immensely grateful for the daily town communications via emails and texts. Truly admirable as well are the school district’s administrators and teachers who have been trying to provide our kids with a sense of community and stability in learning during enormous upheaval. 

Amy Kaplan is an artist, an event planner and an elected RTM member. She, her husband and two kids have lived in Westport for 20 years.

My events are canceled or postponed, and my RTM work has been on hold as we try to adapt to a new process of holding public meetings. As an artist, it’s been a bit of a bright spot because with fewer “important” errands and meetings canceled, I have more guilt-free time in my studio. I’m finding I need that time more than ever, just to lose that ever-present anxiety for a time. 

The biggest challenge for me is to keep my high school senior connected to these last few weeks of her Westport Public School career. After a crazy few days, she had finally worked out a schedule that worked for her- sleeping till noon, but then doing all the work required during the afternoon and evening hours, taking breaks on her own time. Then, school sent an email requiring them to all sign in at 8:30 am and work from 8:30-12:15. Apparently the lack of schedule was difficult for some…but I can say with certainty that adhering to this rigid schedule in the midst of this crazy time is not going to go well in this house. 

We are just an ordinary family living thru an extraordinary time. This is a time when I was mentally preparing to be an empty nester, but as it turns out, both our children are here with us, and I’m grateful that we are together. In a way it reminds me of when they were young, with lots of noise and laundry! But it’s also a privilege to be with them as “almost adults”, when we can relate to each other as family members and friends, and share our solutions and work-arounds with each other. Hopefully we’ll share some laughs as well, even in these trying times. Mostly, we are ok. We’ll all get through this in our own way, so don’t be afraid to chart your own way behind your closed front door. But come out and wave sometimes! 

I do love that people are finding virtual and alternative ways to connect and support each other but I’m not so thrilled at the selfishness displayed by hoarding and refusal to social distance properly. I think our town leaders are doing the best they can in a difficult situation, but I wish they had been more forthcoming originally about the level of exposure here in town. To be fair, I’m not sure they got accurate info themselves right away. I just feel people might have taken quarantine more seriously if we understood that it wasn’t just people at the infamous party that were exposed. Those exposed people attended many other events that weekend and into the following week before school closed. There was a concern about people being blamed, but, honestly, I’ve not heard one person online or in real life, express that. Mostly people just wanted info to try to retrace their steps or to understand their own potential for exposure. Many of us live with or love vulnerable high-risk people, and just want to keep them safe. I sincerely hope our town officials are advocating vociferously for us behind the scenes with the state and federal agencies. 

I’m worried we are going to lose a lot of amazing people who still have so much to offer the world. I’m worried that my husband’s business will collapse, that my son will not graduate from college and still have student loans to pay. I’m worried that my daughter will not set off across the country next year, to claim her own future. I’m worried that Trump will seize this to declare elections unsafe or invalid to solidify his power and not leave office. I’m worried companies will find they only need half the staff they previously employed, and that this will not be a pause in the American economy, but the beginning of a free fall. 

I’m spending a lot of time calling, emailing, face-timing and offering to get food or necessities for neighbors. I’ve set up a virtual cocktail hour on Zoom with a friend for our artists group. 

 I’m jumping in on this oral history project to stay connected and to build something from this time that we can look back on. 

Quincy Cuthbert has spent all of her 18 years in Westport, having been born and raised in the town. She is a college student who has come home to Westport after school closed due to Corona Virus. According to her profile at the school, Quincy is a Drexel University student majoring in Civil Engineering and Business with ambitions to design and build roller coasters, for which she has already placed in competitions at well-known theme parks. 

The most striking change in all this is that I now have to live at home and still be a full-time student. It is strange being back in town yet not being able to spend time with my friends, or go out and enjoy everything Westport has to offer.  

Everything happened so fast, and each day a new precaution is introduced but Westport is adapting at a rate I didn’t even think was possible. Even though we are all self-isolating in our houses we are really working together. There is a joke that if you grew up in Westport, you’re used to living in a bubble, this definitely brings new meaning to that.  

The Griffiths family found their home in Westport 5 years ago, having immigrated to Connecticut from Cape Town, South Africa, 11 years ago. Dad, Warren, is a Global Media Investment President at Publicis Media, a road warrior who spends a lot of his work time traveling globally. His wife, Mariet, is the Marketing Director at Westport Museum and mom to second grader Sadie and Staples sophomore Sydney.  

“We have faced much adversity, and challenges in our nomadic lives,” says Warren. “and we have always faced them head on. There is no doubt that this is one of the biggest challenges we have ever faced as a family, however we are an extremely positive family, pragmatists at heart, and lean into headwinds. Mariet has been incredible, as she marshals our homelife, home schooling the kids, work and keeping everything on track. The mothers are the real family superheroes during these challenging times! 

All of our direct family are based overseas in South Africa and the UK, and being so far from loved ones can be very scary at times, especially now with all travel restrictions but we remind ourselves constantly that we are fortunate to live in a first world country where information, medical support, and leadership structures are strong, to effectively fight these kinds of threats.  

Like everyone, we have fully integrated our working and school lives into home school and virtual work. I’m no longer spending time at airports, planes and boardrooms in different corners of the planet, and 100% of the time at home now. Video conferencing and virtual tools have become the new normal. I tend to be putting many more productive hours into my day since I have no commute times, but there is a challenge in that the work-life barrier has become a bit fuzzy.  

A positive side effect is that we are spending so much more wonderful time, video-chatting and reconnecting with friends, family and loved ones across the globe and we are spending so much more quality time with the family over (full attendance) meals, long put off chores around the house finally being checked off, evening walks and bike rides around the neighborhood (keeping safe distances) and teaching our 8-year-old how to ride a bike, while our 16-year-old learns to skateboard. 

What I see around us on a town level has been a mix of fear and responsible community actions. There is a definite underlying stress and apprehension around “what happens next?”, and “how bad is it going to get?”, but also a wonderful coming together and camaraderie, as neighbors offer to help neighbors, and the sharing of information and experiences is everywhere. 

Jill Rizack is a graphic designer who owns Blush Waters, a company that specializes in event invitations in Greenwich. She and her husband have four adult children aged 25, 23, 20 and 18, all of whom have returned home during the Corona Virus crisis. The family has lived in Westport for 18 years. Jill’s business is on hold since her work centers around weddings, engagements, bar mitzvahs, and other group events. 

“I have my four adult children here. They live in four different states and the fact that we are all together–which only happens twice a year now– is my silver lining. It’s an adjustment for all of us. They are used to doing things their own way and I like things my own but every night we are sitting down together, and we are all hanging out at the table talking after we eat and that’s kind of cool. 

I returned to my work as a graphic designer 2 ½ years ago after staying home to raise our children. I started my own company in October and have a studio called Blush Waters in Greenwich on the Avenue.  There was just enough work to pay the bills and I was hoping to grow and give work to other designers as well, but then this happened. My landlord has been amazing he’s lowered rent and said going forward we can address the situation month to month. 

 I continue to work at home doing complimentary design for my clients to help them announce change of date or a that new date will be decided. For example, I just got off the phone with a bride who was supposed to get married in Venice in May. I’m advising clients to postpone and I’m trying to support them through that. I also signed up with a firm in California trying to do similar work pro bono. 

I just can’t make money for this kind of work– it’s not right. I don’t want to take from other people. I do what I do because I love what I do. Hopefully, I can just ride it out. I’m very fortunate in what I have and I know there are lot of people who aren’t. I don’t want to take from people who desperately need it.  When I go to the store, I only buy what we need. I just went to grocery store and was lucky that they had toilet paper–I did take two this time to give them to an elderly lady I shop for. 

Basically, I take what we need, but not at expense of others. It isn’t just us in this world. We are getting through by not just looking after ourselves and our family but whomever else we can help because we are all in it together. This affects everyone. I’m hearing that people are doing things like sharing groceries that have run out at the store, sharing supplies with neighbors. I hope that what will come out of this moving forward from this time is that we are coming out of “it’s mine” moving to “it’s ours.” I feel like I have to believe there is a reason for all of this and maybe that’s what the reason is.  

The Lukacs family (left to right), Michael, Julianna, Char and Evan have lived in Westport off and on for 9 years with time living abroad. Mom, Char, is a trained optician and board member at two local nonprofits: A Better Chance and the Westport Museum.  

“I am not currently working outside our home but with everyone home all day there is plenty to be done around the house! It’s been a great time to try and get our teenagers to pitch in and help…making and serving dinner, laundry, cleaning bathrooms, using the vacuum…all good lessons for soon-to-be adults. My husband, Michael is an international tax lawyer and has been spending long days in his home office on phone and video conferences, trying his best to make time to join us on walks at the beach. 

My day consists of overseeing study at home programs for our teenagers, spring cleaning – closets, garage and basement, virtual board meetings for 2 local non-profits, long walks with our dog (sometimes multiple), running at Sherwood Island, daily phone check-ins and Zoom video calls to “see” friends and family, and lots of cooking. I have been making a pot of soup almost every day. Somehow, homemade soup makes everything a bit better!  

We originally followed news of the novel coronavirus when the breakout began in Wuhan, China. It seemed like any other news report from halfway around the word — something that was newsworthy but wouldn’t impact us directly. I remember my husband telling me about the size of the lock down in Wuhan and how it was comparable to a lockdown the size of the NYC metro area. We both were trying to imagine if that happened here…but we couldn’t even. That was not even two months ago. It’s truly amazing how quickly everything has changed.  

The repetitiveness of life now compared to just a month ago has been the biggest change. We’re trying to find a balance for teens when it comes to social media, Netflix, gaming (all ways they are staying connected to friends, which definitely has it benefits), and also making sure they put the electronics away, are present with the family, and reflect on the current developments. 

We are healthy and trying our best to make the best of this challenging situation. We look forward to the day when we can hug friends, visit our favorite restaurants, attend a workout class or participate in team sports, reunite and embrace extended family, celebrate our daughter’s high school graduation and, mostly, to know that the worst of this pandemic is behind us.  

We are calling and checking in with family and those in the community that may need assistance picking up groceries and supplies. We have volunteered to support the Gillespie center and setting virtual meetings and happy hours with friends and family on Zoom to “see” and support each other. Together we will get through!” 

Our hope is that this experience changes humanity for the better–that within us there is something stronger and we emerge from this experience collectively better than ever before. Our fear is that this pandemic lasts longer, creates lasting damage to the economy and takes more lives than we can imagine right now.

Together for 30 years, Chris Buckley, and his husband Mark Ciano moved to Westport in 2013 from Forest Hills, Queens when their children were toddlers and the couple felt the family needed more room. They became familiar with this area after marrying at Fairfield’s Penfield Beach in 2010 and Connecticut was among the few states with legalized gay marriage. The Ciano-Buckleys were photographed on March 27– their twin’s 9^th birthday. 

“I normally work from home as does my husband. I work with a technology company that manufactures wireless connectivity solutions. People who know what a MiFi is or perhaps have heard of 5G may have heard of my company. We have seen tremendous demand for our products with the work-from-home initiatives now.  

We’re managing school lessons with the kids –but please don’t judge our educator skills. Much respect to the teachers! Most of our food is brought in online with an occasional trip to Stop and Shop. We’re happy to help anyone that needs us to pick up something from our supermarket trips.  

We’re getting out to the yard to exercise and allowing the kids a little more screen time than usual. When they’re off the screens they are doing art projects, playing basketball, running laps around the house and now competing on their new foosball table. 

I’m impressed with how the town managers are communicating to the community. I think we are all adjusting and fortunate that there are tools like Facebook, FaceTime and Houseparty to keep all of us socially engaged.  

Dan Nissim is a software engineer who  works remotely and his wife Laura is a Board Certified Legal Nurse Consultant who works at a law firm in Westchester County but is now working from home as well.  The couple says there hasn’t been a lot of change professionally for either of them but their daily lives have changed in a number of ways: “We have concerns about going out and meeting people and, of course, there is the inability to do the things that we normally do, day-to-day like going to the supermarket, or hair salon and getting dental/medical care.“ 

Dan: Because I work from home full time I depend on going out to the gym and even shopping to get some interaction with people, so not being able to go out and interact is very frustrating. The biggest change is not being able to see our family face to face. That’s the most difficult. On the entertaining side I can finally get a little revenge on my children and not do exactly as they would have me do! 

Laura: I am on social media, trying to speak logically, and sometimes clinically, to folks who are afraid. A friend who had lung surgery has needed support as she is very fearful. Others just really need to laugh. I am in frequent contact with my siblings and my 89 year old mother.  

Some people are alarmists, using social networking to escalate conversations that need clarity and calm. Some friends I know are struggling with the social isolation and fears for the future, which then is impacting their health. I know there are many who are unable to work, to earn a living that they count on while others, like restaurant people, continue to struggle day-to-day, hoping that their place of business can remain open and come out the other side of this to continue on. 

We  continue to believe that the people will try to do the right things in this crisis. We are trying as a couple, along with our family, to keep our spirits up–enjoy the sunshiny days and the flowers that are blooming, regardless of the world’s current insanity. Dan would love to help in some concrete way but isn’t finding much that a software engineer can do to help. We want to support the efforts of others and are here if there are people in need that we can help. The state of Connecticut just called on health care people to help relieve some of the active healthcare workforce. It is something I’m thinking hard about.