Time We Have

Michele Weldon is a journalist and author of six award-winning nonfiction books and chapters in seven anthologies and is emerita faculty at Northwestern University’s Medill School for Journalism, Media & Integrated Marketing Communication. Her work has appeared in CNN, New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today, MSNBC, TIME, NBC Think, Slate, Chicago Tribune, Forbes, Narratively, and more. She is a senior leader with The OpEd Project, a TEDx speaker, and a live storyteller.

• IntroductionPart One: PersonsChapter 1: Caption WriterChapter 2: ChildrenChapter 3: Positive PatientsChapter 4: Old LadiesChapter 5: FeministsChapter 6: PartnersChapter 7: ClassmatesChapter 8: LiarsPart Two: PlacesChapter 9: Latin ClassChapter 10: LakefrontChapter 11: KitchensChapter 12: Physical TherapyChapter 13: ICUChapter 14: ShameChapter 15: ZoomChapter 16: WithinPart Three: ThingsChapter 17: Pink CouchesChapter 18: WatchesChapter 19: NicknamesChapter 20: ShoesChapter 21: SoundsChapter 22: SoupChapter 23: BlueChapter 24: BreathAfterwordAcknowledgmentsCredits

“Michele Weldon has a tremendous capacity for life—for living fully, with intelligence, humor, originality, and reflection. In this essay collection, she gives us a vital and humanizing record of our present times.” —Rachel Jamison Webster, Author of Benjamin Banneker and Us: Eleven Generations of an American Family “In The Time We Have, Michele Weldon explores the impact of the COVID pandemic on our day-to-day lives in beautiful and unexpected ways. These essays are rich in details and observations that made me shake my head in recognition. Weldon considers deeply all that was reshaped, reoriented, adapted, or transformed by our time in quarantine.” ­—Arlene Malinowski, playwright and solo artist“Whether she's talking about the loss of a beloved brother or of her beloved shoe collection, Michele Weldon offers us a compassionate, kind, and generous way to try and make sense of the coronavirus pandemic, both individually and societally, and to consider the world we want moving forward. With an honest, humble and sometimes humorous reckoning of her own struggles and triumphs, Weldon invites us to explore our understanding of the human condition. A truly joyous read.” —Vicki Larson, author of Not Too Old for That“How oddly comforting to closely observe, laugh at, and begin to understand what feels like myself, and my friends and family too, in Michele Weldon’s The Time We Have. Incredibly moving. Gorgeously written. Clever and complicated and life-affirming; if one good thing came out of the pandemic, it is books like this.” —Meg Waite Clayton, New York Times best-selling author of The Postmistress of Paris"Michele Weldon has a tremendous capacity for life—for living fully, with intelligence, humor, originality, and reflection. In this essay collection, she gives us a vital and humanizing record of our present times."--Rachel Jamison Webster, Author of Benjamin Banneker and Us: Eleven Generations of an American Family“Reading Michele Weldon is like spending a rainy afternoon with your best friend while sharing a few glasses of wine—but only if your best friend is smart, funny, thoughtful and inspiring. We all went through the pandemic, but Weldon paid attention and took notes. This bracing, eloquent, and moving collection is the glorious result.” —Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Julia Keller, author of Quitting: A Life Strategy