Marking a Pandemic, One Crane at a Time

My son and I took on what seemed like a simple project: fold one origami crane every day during the pandemic. Together, we discovered over the year how making art helps people bear the unbearable.

OAKLAND, Calif. — On March 5, 2020, my family attended our sixth grader’s school music performance, then went straight to dinner and a concert at Yoshi’s, a local jazz club, to celebrate my husband’s birthday. We didn’t know at the time it would be our last family outing for more than a year. The following week, I worked my last day in the office and my then 12-year-old son, Devin, had his last day of in-person school. Anxious about the spread of Covid-19, we suspended all activities outside the home starting on March 14, a few days before the official stay-at-home order for the Bay Area. Like everyone else, we stocked up on groceries and cleaning supplies for what we thought would be a two- or three-week lockdown. With nowhere to go and only one another for company, we came up with ways to pass the time. The three of us went on daily walks in our Oakland neighborhood and discovered new vistas and a hidden park. My husband and I binge-watched Netflix. Devin and I tried new recipes: green onion pancakes and homemade dumplings. And, inspired by a recent visit to the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles, I came up with the idea to fold an origami crane for every day we were in isolation. I thought that maybe we’d get to 100.