2020 – Week 23 -How Do You Handle It?

Shutdowns, quarantines, social distancing. Not too familiar with this in our country – – until now.

I had a short trip planned for months. My friend and I were off to a town about 90 minutes away with large Amish community. Our intention was to have lunch, do some shopping in the many antique and country stores and then drive west to the town where I was born, where we had a B&B reserved to spend the night. We were going to do some shopping there, have dinner, breakfast the next morning, and then come home.

As it turned out, the ugly CV shut down many restaurants and shops, but in the first town, we got a sit-down lunch of good, small-town food. Eat-in dining is now banned in a lot of areas, so being in this tiny town was good.

When we got to the B&B, we found we were the only guests that hadn’t cancelled. The store my friend wanted to visit was closed, as were all sit-down restaurants. After the proprietor showed us to our rooms in this 134-year-old restored mansion, we went to see something I knew would not be closed.

I drove to the home where I lived from birth to age 3. We stopped and I took a photo from the street. I had to turn around to exit the dead-end street, and I saw a woman at the large front window – then another woman joined and it looked like they had a phone out, so I decided to go to the door and tell them who I was and why I took a pic of their home. They were very kind and asked me in – which I totally did not expect at all, so I stepped in, glanced into the kitchen and looked at the living room, which was the setting of so many old photos I have.

They were so kind. Especially with all the talk of social distancing. They didn’t know me. They didn’t need to open the door, much less invite me in. A minute after I returned to my car, they followed me out and asked if I’d like a picture of myself with the house. Another kindness that was not expected! They offered to take down the Chiefs flag – absolutely unnecessary!

Before going back to the B&B, we ordered a delicious pizza from a shop down the street, and while enjoying it, we started playing favorite songs on YouTube. She played one, then I played one – of course, others popped up as suggestions and – “Hey, I forgot about that one,” or “Listen to this – I loved this in high school!” There was a lot of laughing and dancing around the room – even taking the party out into the hall since we were the only ones in the house!

It occurred to me that we were doing the 21st century version of an activity that I enjoyed very much as a teen – gathering with friends and playing records! It was a great way to pass the evening – probably about 5 hours of singing and dancing – so much fun!

So, with a 30 day shut-down starting here in less than 48 hours, we know we’d done all we could to prepare, and we were singing and dancing, and celebrating our friendship. Fear not – be kind – celebrate the good – do the next thing, and dance!

What are you doing to feel better? I’d love to hear!