During normal times, Joe Ruggiero Jr. might hold 25 funerals a month; this April there have been 71. Due to a surge in COVID-19 cases, his family’s funeral home in East Boston is so overrun that the tribute lounge and cafe normally used to display portraits of the departed has been turned into a makeshift storage space. A thin white sheet of plastic held together with binder clips is all that separates the hallway from the caskets. The white board in the office downstairs is overflowing with funerals. Three on Wednesday. Four on Thursday. Five on Friday. Joe Jr., his son, Joe III, and his daug ..read more

Patrick Lupien and Mariah LeMieux-Lupien knew they were going to be evicted from their apartment in Biddeford, Maine. The lapse was a matter of basic math: As Mariah put it, when you don’t have it, you don’t have it. Despite Patrick’s $40,000 a year salary, the Lupien family became part of an often invisible group known as the “working homeless.” Their story illustrates the growing housing inequality that is prevalent in America today. The family’s hard road over the next six months - from eviction, to living in a campground, to homeless shelters, and then finally finding a home - offers a win ..read more

Jessica Rinaldi documented a Cataldo ambulance crew as they worked their 24-hour shift. Monday, 9:23 a.m. EMT Emily Moran of Melrose and paramedic Ricky Cormio of Medford lifted an elderly patient who had a fever, a possible sign of COVID-19, onto a stretcher for transport to Mass General Hospital, their second call of the day. (Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff ..read more

Here’s a look at some of the best images taken by Globe photographers last month before the coronavirus grabbed the region’s attention: the end of Elizabeth Warren’s 2020 presidential campaign, L Street ice swimmers practicing at Dorchester Bay, soap box derby racing, the Boston Flower & Garden Show, and the MIAA high school winter sports playoffs. Click here to see images from COVID-19 coverage. L Street ice swimmers Laurie Craigen, Kellie Latimer, Polly Madding, and Karen Nazor headed out for an evening swim in Dorchester Bay as they do in the late winter months. (Jessica Rinaldi/Glo ..read more

Globe staff photographers document the Boston area and beyond during this unprecented time. A woman walked out of JP Licks on Beacon Hill on March 24 after grabbing take-out a day after Governor Charlie Baker issued a stay-at-home advisory for all non-essential workers. (Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff ..read more

In waters cold enough to kill, 93 competitors, who had to prove they could handle ultra-cold water to qualify, race in distances ranging from 25 to 200 meters during the Memphremagog Winter Swim Festival, held annually in Newport, Vt. “You can’t imagine anything being this cold,” said Laurie Craigen, a first-time competitor. She was part of a large crew that comes up each year from the L Street Bathhouse in South Boston, which is famed for its year-round ocean swimmers. There are documented dangers. One woman from San Francisco lost feeling in her fingertips for nine months after last year’s e ..read more

Here’s a look at some of the best images taken by Globe photographers last month: the New Hamphire primary, Ash Wednesday, living with progeria, the Beanpot Tournament, and Red Sox spring training. Rylee Mehung, 7, made the best of boredom while waiting for Senator Elizabeth Warren to rally with supporters at Manchester Community College in New Hampshire on Feb. 8. (John Tlumacki/Globe Staff ..read more

Here’s a look at some of the best images taken by Globe photographers last month: the run-up to the Iowa Democratic caucus, International Holocaust Remembrance Day, Boston’s State of the City address, celebrations of the new year, and the end of the Patriots’ season. Delphie Condensa of Austin, Texas, visited the New England Holocaust Memorial in Boston on January 27, International Holocaust Remembrance Day. (Craig F. Walker/Globe Staff ..read more

Here’s a look at some of the best images taken by Globe photographers last month: holiday seasonal events, the death of Pete Frates, Boston city council results, winter weather, and high school football championships. Isaac Holbert (left) enjoyed the company of Santa Claus, portrayed by Eddie A. Brimage at the Black Market in Boston on Dec. 7. (Jonathan Wiggs/Globe Staff ..read more

Here’s a look at some of the best images taken by Globe photographers last month: Thanksgiving holiday, the loss of a firefighter, Women Veterans Appreciation Day, and high school sports playoffs. Paul Jehle, president of the Plymouth Rock Foundation and a Mayflower descendant, prepared for the opening ceremony of the Annual Thanksgiving Parade in Plymouth on Nov. 23. (Craig F. Walker/Globe Staff ..read more