I Missed My Son’s Birthday This Year. A Lot of Us Will.
Visitation and joint custody take on new meaning in a time like this
Update 6/7/22: Level has a new home. You can read this article and other new articles by visiting LEVELMAN.com.
Tomorrow will be my son’s seventh birthday. I once wondered what it would take for me to not be there by his side on such an occasion; the answer, as it turns out, is a global pandemic.
I’m writing this on the desktop I grabbed from my office, now propped up on the windowsill of my apartment — a makeshift workspace in a big, quiet world. My window faces New Jersey’s Garden State Parkway, where the traffic grows lighter and lighter every day. Beyond the highway lies the Watchung Mountains. What was once a peaceful vista now feels desolate rather than beautiful, a reflection of the new normal.
In the large apartment complex I live in, most of the tenants either work in New York City or Newark, both of which have become hot spots for Covid-19. It was inevitable that at least one of my neighbors would either be exposed to the virus or become a confirmed case. That happened two weeks ago; now, I work in isolation with the woman I love. Both of our children are staying with their other parents, in situations we’re hoping are safer than our own.
