I created this artwork not thinking about what it meant until afterwards.

It is about the bleak and lonely aspects of Covid. A lot of attention has been paid to the plight of parents during this Covid pandemic, and rightly so. But what is not right is the lack of concern and caring for the challenges of the childless, who are also struggling during this time.

As an already marginalized and unrecognized minority, many of us became more so during this pandemic, as the isolation exacerbated the social challenges that the childless already had to deal with.

Please always think before assuming the grass is greener. Yes we childless may have more freedom and less familial responsibility. But the childless also suffer from lack of social structure, connection, empathy, and understanding. And too often we suffer from outright prejudice. Above a certain basic standard of living, it is social currency that is perhaps the most valuable of all.

I thank my Gateway support group for helping to preserve my sanity during this time.

Hilary