This book was produced in partnership with Peggy O’Neal and RMIT University

2020 was a year none of us could have ever predicted, and little did we know just how dramatically all of our lives would be affected. On Monday, 23 March 2020, the beginning of Melbourne’s first lockdown, Peggy O’Neal decided to compose a daily COVID-correspondence email. Comprised of her thoughts on the ever-evolving pandemic and accompanied by a word and song of the day, the emails were sent to her ‘involuntary subscribers’—a fiercely close-knit group of women who reside in and around 3121.

This collection traces the best part of a year that delivered everything from businesses being forced to shut down, employees learning to work from home, Trump losing the election and Peggy’s mighty Tigers winning the premiership.

The correspondence is a record of a lifeline where humour and tears were shared to keep us safe, and most vitally, in touch.

‘Stay safe, stay in touch ... and know that we are one day closer to this being finished ...’ — Peggy O’Neal