Hands: Creating Life’s Stories is a series that I began developing during the height of the pandemic in 2020. I was teaching classes virtually as an elementary school paraeducator and writing as a way to cope with everything. By the sixth week of teaching online and watching the kids and adults struggle, I realized how central touch was to our daily lives and how big of a role our hands played day-to-day.

During the height of the lockdowns, we were constantly washing out hands, wearing gloves, minding what we touched and trying to keep from spreading disease.

As an educator my hands were a big part of my work. I used them when helping students with their jackets, opening their lunches, providing comfort and redirecting attention. Lockdown and virtual learning took all those things away. I was no longer able to calm down students with a touch to the shoulder or redirect their attention with a tap to their paper.

The moment I realized how integral our hands were in life was when I watched one of my students become frustrated and begin throwing stuff around.

I had to watch through a screen as this child fell apart, unable to do anything.

I couldn’t call the parents and no amount of words in that moment stopped them.

Social distancing didn’t just mean that we put space between ourselves and the person in front of us at the check stand.

We were also distancing ourselves from our loved ones.

Hugs, handshakes and comforting touches were no longer a part of our daily lives due to the fear of getting sick.

A fact highlighted when my sister decided to marry in the summer of 2020. The wedding was outside and only people in our social bubble were able to attend.

Photographing my sister’s pandemic wedding started the series and began the ongoing journey to highlight how our hands impact our lives and those around us.

The wedding photographs captured everything from simple tasks like adjusting bracelets to monumental moments such as exchanging rings and signing the marriage contract.

These small acts were only possible at this point because of weeks of safety preparations, isolation and creating strict social bubbles.

Small moments like handshakes and simple hugs that would have otherwise been inconsequential and overlooked suddenly became everything.

Three years into this adventure, the series hasn’t slowed down and instead has led to me finding more stories and looking deeper into how we live out lives.