Madeleine
Hordinski

My life in quarantine for BBC News. See my video here. 

We had a social distancing movie night in our backyard; we watched Monsters, Inc. since we have four young neighbors.

My mom, Karen Hordinski, sets up her new work desk in her room on Tuesday, March 24, 2020. She is an outreach coordinator at a local high school, and she needs a space in her room to work from home.

My mom massages my sister’s shoulders as we sit outside for our ice cream social distancing night with my neighbors on March 28, 2020. We all sat in our backyard to hangout from afar.

My sister and my dad eat dinner —we had salads, broccoli and Impossible burgers that night.

My dad works on a song in his recording studio that’s across the street from our house.

Today I stayed home and worked and read. Here, I’m reading a book called “A tale for the time being” by Ruth Ozeki in my room.

Sabina and I hung out on top of our roof that day, working on school assignments.

My house is a row-house, so the building is split in two. Today, my little neighbor (who lives on the left side) named Matilda turned five years old today. Matilda had an ocean-themed birthday, so my boyfriend who owns a balloon company brought over ocean-colored balloons for her. Here, my mom grabs the balloons from him to put them on Matilda’s side of the porch as a surprise.

My sister and my mom clean up from dinner and start making rice pudding for dessert on March 31, 2020.

My mom (very far left in the black coat) attends a car procession to honor a teacher from her school who died suddenly last week. The teacher’s death was unrelated to the coronavirus and came as a huge shock to my mom’s school community. Since the teacher’s family couldn’t hold a funeral because of the pandemic, over a hundred people showed up in cars to drive by her house to show their love and support for her and her family.

I have a small collection of art books in my room, so I’ve been trying to read a different one every week. Today, I read a little bit about Gustav Klimt, know for “The Kiss” painting.

Sabina and I spent the whole day together — when we got home we decided to go on a walk around our neighborhood because we had spent six hours in the car. Here, she walks on McMillan Street with me.

My sister helps set up the screen for the projector before our social distancing movie night with our neighbors.

We had rice, beans and a spicy chicken soup for dinner.

My mom works on sewing masks using old curtains, clothes and rags. She plans to send the masks to family and friends and to use the rest for us.

My dad works on a song in his recording studio that’s across the street from our house.

My sister and I went on a ride to Mt. Adams today since it was in the 60s — Mt. Adams is a neighborhood in Cincinnati with one of the best views of downtown, so we sat with the windows down to enjoy the view.

My mom and dad (center) and I had another social distancing night with our neighbors in our backyard. We sat in chairs and talked from at least 10 feet apart.

My family worked on an 1000-piece jigsaw puzzle together this evening. Here, my mom and my sister look for the right match.

My mom holds onto a poster she made in honor of a teacher in her school who died suddenly last week. The poster reads “praying for you, our hearts are with you.” She attends a car procession to honor the teacher.The teacher’s death was unrelated to the coronavirus and came as a huge shock to my mom’s school community. Since the teacher’s family couldn’t hold a funeral because of the pandemic, over a hundred people showed up in cars to drive by her house to show their love and support for her and her family.

On March, 20, 2020, I went on a “social-distancing” walk with my boyfriend, Krishna Nelson, in my neighborhood, Walnut Hills, in Cincinnati, Ohio. We did not get any closer than 6 feet for the mile-long walk.

My mom practices yoga in an online class on April 1, 2020.

My sister, Sabina Hordinski, 17, practices piano. She is classically trained for school in the cello, but she loves to sing and play the piano as a hobby — she’s taught herself how to play dozens of songs. On March, 20, 2020, she plays a couple slow songs at night before we eat dinner.