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BIDING TIME (2021)
Kristina Woldan is a frontline nurse, and has been caring for her adopted daughters Zoë and Okalani, who both have serious lung conditions, since she became their foster mother when Okalani was four months and Zoë was one months old. Due to their lung conditions, they are categorized as high-risk. Kristina worries that they would be hit hard by COVID-19 were they to catch it, and so has done her best to keep them safe and well-cared for through the hard times posed by the coronavirus pandemic.
Zoë and Okalani rarely spend time with friends and virtually never go to playgrounds. On the rare occasion that happens, it’s an empty playground with masks still on and a change of clothes before getting back in the car. They haven't been able to return to pre-school either, just in case another kid not wearing a mask were to cough in one of their faces. The fight to protect them is all-encompassing, with Kristina working hard to keep them from having to battle an invisible adversary. "I don't know if they would survive COVID, but I'm trying really hard not to find out," she says.
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Kristina Woldan holds her daughter, Zoë, up to a window at the Los Angeles Zoo. Zoë and her sister are both considered high-risk due to serious lung conditions. Kristina, a frontline nurse, works to protect them amidst the coronavirus pandemic.
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Left to right: Zoë, Okalani, and Kristina eat lunch at the Los Angeles Zoo. They find places away from everyone else so that they can be as safe as possible while eating without masks.
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Zoë and Okalani receive lung treatments at their home. Zoë has cystic fibrosis, and Okalani has chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Kristina works hard to give them their treatments and make sure they're doing as well as they can be.
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Kristina hugs Zoë before she puts her to bed. The pandemic has introduced an all-encompassing stress into her life as she works to protect her children.
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Kristina reaches through the water to poke Okalani's cheeks while they visit the pool. She says her training as a nurse has prepared her well for caring for at-risk children as a single mother.
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Kristina looks at her daughters from the kitchen while she meal preps.
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Kristina reads Okalani and Zoë a story before bedtime.
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Kristina puts an airway clearance vest system on Zoë. The COVID-19 pandemic has introduced a new level of isolation into their family's life as they work to avoid becoming sick. In this time of isolation, they have found togetherness with eachother.
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Zoë receives treatments twice a day: once in the early morning, and once in the evening.
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Okalani plays with a toy on the window at their home. The family looks forward to being safe in public again.
