Henrietta Hortense In The Time Of COVID-19

From a child of her heart.

Henrietta Hortense as a child, circa 1940. Photo courtesy of author.

My brother and I have a fairy godmother. Ours arrives not by pumpkin coach, but via the classified section of the newspaper.

It is 1965. My mother, pregnant with me, has a vacant apartment in our rambling Victorian house. A woman sees the ad, and makes an appointment. She takes one look at our kooky place and knows it’s…