Drawing in the Time of Cut Flowers

On Grief, Loss, and Renewal in the Wake of the Pandemic

My first instinct when my grandma died was to purchase and draw flowers for her. A traditional gesture of sympathy, the flowers seemed fitting—but the circumstances were unprecedented.

It was April 2020. My grandma was exposed to COVID in the memory unit of her nursing home and died within the week. Like so many families, we would not be able to gather to mourn her or to say goodbye in person.

I continued to buy flowers in the weeks that followed to enliven that cavernous spring. Time, or what I had understood …

More In: Essays

When Victorian Newspapers Put Gender-Bending on Trial

1870s Press Covered an Otherwise Trivial Case as Breathlessly—and Dangerously—as Today’s Trans Stories

In 1870, Ernest Fanny Boulton and Frederick Stella Park were arrested in London. Their crime? Presenting as women outside their theatrical act.

Fanny and Stella had appeared in newspapers before, known …

Can a Side Hustle Be a ‘Proper’ Job?

Forget ‘Good’ or ‘Bad,’ Workers Want Something Real

This piece publishes as part of the Zócalo/The James Irvine Foundation public program and editorial series, “What Is a Good Job Now?” which investigates low-wage …

Tips and Tricks From an Uber Driver

Don’t Talk Politics, Store a Towel in Your Trunk, and Let Them Sing Their Songs

This piece publishes as part of the Zócalo/The James Irvine Foundation public program and editorial series, “What Is a Good Job Now?” which investigates low-wage …

What Is 21st-Century Truth?

Propaganda Has Trapped Us in Plato’s Cave—the Shadows Aren’t Real but the Sun Is Blinding

Zócalo is celebrating its 20th birthday this year! As part of the festivities, we’re publishing reflections and responses that revisit and reimagine some of …