Back in late April I asked ’90s, “Please tell us one positive thing that’s come out of the Covid-19 pandemic for you or a member of your family.” Here are the responses I couldn’t fit into previous columns. They will remind you of what life was like back when the pandemic was young. Sarah Lennon: “My family of four’s crazy-busy schedules of music rehearsals, softball practices, board meetings, and other volunteer work have fallen by the wayside, which was disappointing at first. But now we eat dinner together every night, I cook and bake with my daughter, and we play cards and other board games. I’ve traded my 2.5 hours of commuting to D.C. each day for extra workouts. Perhaps best of all is that we’ve introduced the kids to The West Wing and watch it almost every evening.” David Jacobs:“One good thing has been more family time, especially with my oldest daughter, who’s going off to college at Washington University in the fall. Lunch every day together, family walks on the beach, poker night, movie night, creative cooking and baking (you haven’t lived until you’ve had banana mush with chocolate), sitting around the family room while my 16-year-old daughter serenades us on her ukulele—there’s certainly been a silver lining.” Liz Edgar:“I’m realizing I must have made a good choice in marrying James Edgar because we’re getting along fine together here in the house 24/7, teaching from home, just us and the dog. Good practice for retirement?” Kyrie Robinson:“One positive thing that will continue after the stay-at-home rules ease:With no income, I was forced to massively trim our family budget. One fallout is that my 16-year-old boys and I have started doing the yard work and I’m teaching them how to clean the house every two weeks. (I certainly didn’t grow up with gardeners and housekeepers, but as a single mom, I had come to rely on them. Now we all have plenty of time.)Another positive thing is that I reinstated my news diet. Starting two weeks ago, I now set a timer of 30 minutes to scan headlines and read maybe one or two articles. That’s it.” Sophia Neely: “I still love playing sports, so being unable to gather for practices and games of flag football, basketball, and baseball has been very sad for me, especially given my extroverted nature. I have always strongly preferred chasing a ball of some sort to working out at a gym. Yet I have developed a mild addiction to solo exercise at home with no special equipment. I press play nearly every day on a 30-minute ‘Daily Burn’ online workout, not because I love it but because I love having done it.” Phil Privatera: “I am grateful for all the time I have been able to spend with my children (17 and 19). Every night the kitchen turns into the dorm cluster social room, where everyone congregates after working or studying all day to unwind, have a snack, or watch some tube. It inevitably turns into an all-night laugh-a-thon with no one wanting to be the first one to go to bed.” Jessica Silver: “I finally have the time to foster newborn orphaned kittens from the no-kill shelter where I volunteer. They came to me the size of gerbils and needed bottle feeding every two hours around the clock. I am exhausted, but I feel like I am doing something worthwhile. They are adorable (2 weeks old now), and I know I will remember this experience for the rest of my life.”

—Rob Crawford, 22 Black Oak Road, Weston, MA 02493; crawdaddy37@gmail.com