Roller Coaster Of A Day
I’ve had super highs and super lows today and I’m sure I’m not the only one. We all know Corona Virus has impacted everyone. There is no way to escape it regardless of your wealth, ethnicity, or religion — or any other factor can you name. It seems that every day, it gets closer and closer to us even as we stay farther and farther from people.
I am part of an amazing women’s bible study. We are The Brown Bag Bible Study and we meet on Tuesdays at lunch time. We just started a new session and we are reading The Art of Neighboring by Jay Pathak and Dave Runyon. We decided on the book before the Corona Virus took hold of the world. It seems crazy to start a bible study about being a good neighbor when you can’t actually go visit your neighbor, and yet we are doing it. If there was ever a time to be a good neighbor, now is the time.
At noon I had a Zoom call with the Brown Bag Bible Study and we talked about all the ways we could be good neighbors in these challenging times. We could write notes in chalk on driveways, we could leave flowers or gifts at the door or if we are new neighbors or have never really introduced ourselves, we could leave a note with our names and phone numbers. We can offer to help each other in the coming weeks by getting something from the pharmacy or grocery store if we are going out. Even though most of the normal ways you think of to be good neighbors do not work right now, THIS IS THE PERFECT TIME to talk about being good neighbors. Despite all the reasons why we shouldn’t be going to knock on each others doors, this IS the time to knock on each other’s door — albeit after using a Clorox Wipe. This is the time to follow God’s commandment and love your neighbor as yourself. So I left that meeting on a high.
I learned a few hours later that my best friend’s husband’s tested positive for Covid 19. The roller coaster took a deep dive. All sorts of worries about his health, her health, her son’s health — the reality of this illness. I can’t — no I choose to not go further here because I just can’t go there now. Roller coaster is at the low end now.
Late afternoon I have a Zoom call with two college friends. On a typical Tuesday there is absolutely no way we could all agree to video chat at 6:30 pm EST on 24 hour notice, but these are not normal times. We all get on the phone and talk for over ninety minutes — all while my family waits for dinner. We laughed, we discussed how many things have possibly changed permanently, and we educated each other — well mostly they educated me on health care policy — and we talked about old times. The roller coaster was going up again.
I finally got off the phone and dinner was actually ready! My family had finished making the dinner I had prepared. Roller coaster still going up! We all sat together for dinner- which is one of the huge positives of this quarantine, especially for my youngest son. It is a huge plus for my younger son to have his older brother around again. You have to look for the pluses and there are plenty. I brought up the idea of what we could do so that we could possibly consider trying to see my husband’s sister and her family. The two emotional members of the family proposed rules we could all adhere to so that we could possibly be together. The two rational/scientific members presented all the reasons why this was not an option. The emotions got the best of the emotional people and before you knew it, the rational people were emotional too. There were tears all around. Everyone went their separate ways and after a considerable separation of time and space, we all made up and went to bed at peace. That said, the roller coaster ride was a lot for one day.
I’m sitting in bed trying to reconcile the ups and downs of the day. There is a lot going on, but I know we will be ok and we will be stronger because of our roller coaster ride together. And we will also be better neighbors, now and wherever any of us live in the future.
