Hitting the pandemic wall

OF ALL the things that could have caused Ashley Murcia to come undone, she did not expect it to be tacos.

The 42-year-old, who lives in Sycamore, Illinois, had mostly kept it together for the past 11 months. She’d been holding things down at her marketing job, making sure her two kids were logged in for virtual school and keeping her family clothed and fed, and virus-free.

Because her husband works in the evenings, Murcia also cooked all of the meals. At first, she loved planning out new recipes weeks in advance. The only mainstay was Taco Tuesday, her kids’ favourite. It was fine, until one day last