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I had gotten a bag of rice, a bag of flour, and some bread, but unfortunately, there was no more toilet paper on the shelves. In fact, most of the supermarket shelves were empty. But right after I decided to check out, I glimpsed a pack of toilet paper on the potato shelf. I hurried over, grabbed it, and threw it into my shopping cart as fast as I could.

Then I heard a burst of a kid’s cry. OH MY GOD! I had thrown my little boy out of bed instead of toilet paper into my shopping cart! I had mistaken my boy for toilet paper in a hazy and half-awake condition. I suddenly woke up and came back to the real world. I was terrified and rolled out of bed to look for my poor boy. Luckily, he was fine, but my left leg was bruised for a week because it had bumped against the edge of the bed. This happened in March 2020, only two months after my family had moved to New York from China. This is my unforgettable pandemic memory.

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Xu (Jenny) Zhang writes: “I come from Beijing, China, and have lived in New York City for almost two years. I am a mom of three kids. This story happened to my second child when he was 15 months old, at the beginning of the pandemic.” Xu Zhang studies at the New York Public Library’s Pasculano Adult Learning Center at St. Agnes Library. Manal Grant is the lead instructor; Michelle Lopolito is the hub manager.