Author: ritualsinthemaking

“They looked at me as if I knew everything—but I was just trying to survive”

Date Posted: 12 July, 2025.

Egypt confirmed its first case of COVID-19 on Valentine’s Day, 2020. Since then, different measures were actively endorsed to contain the pandemic: schools and universities closed their doors, social distancing became the norm, a nationwide curfew was enforced, and many public hospitals were repurposed to isolation wards. As of July 2025, there are 24,830 recorded deaths in Egypt. Yet, many human rights organizations accuse the Egyptian government of underreporting the real numbers. Still, behind these figures lies a strained health system marked by serious disparities in the distribution of healthcare workers and poor quality of care—particularly in the public health sector.

by ritualsinthemaking

The Fabulous Fifth Floor

Date Posted: June 13, 2025.

When I sat down to interview Dene Garbow, I was surprised to discover that she had started the building museum gift shop in the 1980s. Dene has been living in a newly renovated apartment at Ingleside, a retirement community in northwest Washington, DC, since early 2020. My job was to interview her about her experience during the COVID-19 pandemic.

by ritualsinthemaking

From World War II to Covid-19

Date Posted: June 13, 2025

For Page Hawk, 2020 began like any other year, with the exception, she told me, “of massive construction at Ingleside and the rapid spread of COVID-19.” Hawk spent the majority of her life in Washington, DC. She described her decision to move into independent living at Ingleside as a practical one. “We moved here to socialize,” she told me matter-of-factly. “Back in 2020, there was a new director at Ingleside. His name was Felix. He was quite strict with us about social distancing and
following the rules.”

by ritualsinthemaking

A Visit to the “Naming the Lost Memorial” on Opening Night 5/8/25

Date posted: May 30, 2025

Ed Koenig lives in New York City. Retired from a career in information systems, he is exploring writing and music. His partner of 33 years, Jody Settle, died during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in April 2020.  He has found solace in sharing stories on the WhoWeLost website and supporting and participating in other memorial organizations. He’s travelled to Rituals in the Making activities in D.C. several times and participated in the In America: Remember remembrance event, with the Rituals team, in September 2024.

by ritualsinthemaking

LouVax, Four Years Later

Date posted: Abril 16, 2025

From January to late April 2021, the city of Louisville, Kentucky ran an elaborately coordinated COVID-19 vaccination site at Broadbent Arena within the Louisville Exposition Center grounds. The clinic administered over 100,000 shots and employed volunteers who put in over 76,000 hours.

by ritualsinthemaking

Vignettes of Time: Reflections on the Week COVID Came to Be with Hanaan and Avery  

Date posted: March 14, 2025

For Hanaan, COVID began in December when the news began reporting it, working as a volunteer in the ER and seeing people come in droves, fearing they had contracted this virus. But the world officially ‘ended’ when everything in the United States shut down. For Avery, it was a slow trickle, then all at once with her birthday on the 14th of March in Texas – a state that would become contentious in the debate over covid restrictions that came from the community efforts to stop the spread of the virus.   

by ritualsinthemaking