In Times Like These...

It is in times like these that people step up and show what they
are made of, and you find it is the little things that matter most.
Today is the eighteenth day of my confinement.  Oh, I get out and
walk everyday that it doesn't rain, and even if it isn't a down
pour, I manage 2-3 miles.  I meet very few other hardy souls,
but when I do, we exchange nods or brief hellos as we observe
our 'social distancing' etiquette.  Yesterday a gentleman actually
left the sidewalk and moved into the street.  I don't know whether
he was ill, or he thought I was.

My neighbor in the condo down the hall, stopped by Wednesday
and said she was going to the store and did I need anything. What
a life saver!  I was dangerously low on coffee, and I was dreading
going shopping.  Even in good times I hate to shop.  I considerate
a necessary evil.  I usually wait until the very last and then I take
my list and brave the crowds.  I divide my list into stores, and the
stores into items by store, and the items by location in the store.
OK, call me anal, I find shopping a huge waste of time.  I have
friends who make a day of it, with lunch between shops.  They
have learned never to ask me to go along on these excursions
after the first time, as I have a tendency to get whinny. So I will
meet them for lunch then we go our separate ways.

Shoe shopping is the worst.  I would rather have a root canal
without anesthesia then go shoe shopping.  I will admit I have
a hard-to-fit- foot.  I wear a size ten, narrow - very narrow.  My
husband used to say I would have been six-foot tall if they hadn't
folded so much of me under at the bottom.  Athletic shoes are the
hardest to find in my size.  It is as though all women athletes have
feet like Daisy Duck.  So, when I find a pair of cross-trainers that
fit, I usually buy two pairs.  Consequently, there are nine pairs of
athletic shoes in my closet and one pair of dress shoes - though
one pair of athletic shoes could be considered semi-dressy in a
pinch. Just not to a funeral.

Dear me, how did I go off on such a tangent? I began writing about
the kindness of people in times of crisis, and devolved into shoe
shopping.  Let's see if we can get back to the matter at hand.  I am
extremely grateful that I have a diverse group of friends.  There are
class friends, they are of two separate interests; my writers group
and my religious studies group.  And never the twain should meet.
I have been in each class for over eight years.

Then there is my Zumba group, we are no longer active in Zumba,
our leader having retired four years ago. But we still get together
twice a month for lunch and a gab session.  And the pickleballers,
we play five days a week and have been known to top off a hard
game with a beer, or two at the local sports bar.

And last but not least, there are the mousekateers, we are an
exceptionally close group, bound by friendship and love.  Over
the years we have  lost three members, as those of us of that
certain age are wont to do.  But we have taken in a new member,
one who needed us as much as we needed her.  And the saddest
of all my friends, the ones who had to give up their homes and
move to a new place where the can receive a bit more help
getting on with life.  It seems there are more of them every year.

These wretched times have forced all of us to isolate ourselves
for self-preservation.  But thanks - and I never thought I would
say this - to the computer, we are still in daily contact with each
other.  We check in early and late, counting off who is present
and who has not logged in yet.  A late check-in will get you a
phone call.  We email about the little things we are doing to
retain our sanity, exchange new photos of grandbabies, and
poems we've written to vent our frustrations, and jokes lots
of jokes.  But one thing we are sure of, and that is none of us
are ready to throw in the towel.

Yeah, we have more years behind us than in front of us, but we
also have much to contribute to this world.  Some of us remember
rationing after WWII, when you ate what your coupons allowed
and how creative mom got at the end of the month, making
dinner stretch with pasta and a can of soup.  Then there were the
times when polio was rampant, we kids could not leave the safety
of our backyard; no playing with others, no park, no swimming
pool, no playground.  The tumultuous Viet Nam War years, when
it seemed the country was coming apart at the seams, and the ugly
civil rights demonstrations.  Watching in horror as human beings
were beaten like dogs.  We lived through those times and came out
on the other side, stronger.  And we can do this too.

Of course I want the best for my children and grandchildren.  I
would sacrifice anything for them.  But giving up is not what I
taught them.  Their father and I taught them self-reliance and doing
with what you have and not with what you would like.  What we
are going through is new to all of us, but if we learn from it, we
will all be stronger for it.  My friends will tell you I am not a
hugger, it is the brunt of many a joke, but today I am reaching
out to all of you to give you a great big virtual hug, and I am
looking forward to the day I can do it face to face.

                                                   I'm just sayin'.