erin michelle burk

BIDING TIME

Kristina Woldan 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. Zoë and Okalani receive lung treatments twice a day: once in the early morning, and once in the evening. They are both categorized as high-risk as Zoë has cystic fibrosis, and Okalani has chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. 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.