There were changes this morning for our protection but they made it difficult We had to wear masks to enter the store. My mask kept falling off my face. I put on my reading glasses (I did remember them this week) and they fogged up. The aisles were one way only. We didn't need to go down each aisle but did so anyway to keep the pattern going. And then as always, I couldn't find some items in a store that I am still not used to after eight months. Cocoa for baking? Maybe I was looking in the wrong place or maybe they were out. Jelly beans? Not with the Easter supplies or in the candy section.
Easter dinner? I had hoped that this year I could make a bunny cake with my grandchildren but instead we will eat with the two of us. No point in buying a big ham and a ham slice looked pretty inadequate. So we will have a rotisserie chicken and I might make a strawberry pie for something special. Church will be online as it has been for the month.
I had read that a sense of well-being depends on genes, circumstances and habits. Of those we can't control genes and the circumstances of social distancing and Jim's cancer diagosis but we can control habits to a certain extent. The article said habits involve faith, friends, family, and work. No wonder I feel sad these days because there are changes in those areas too.
Friends? I am thankful for my new friend Peggy who lives here and is my walking buddy. I am thankful for our "old" friends from NCSU days, the Moorheads who moved to Princeton and are now reunited with us. I am grateful for email and Facebook as ways of contacting my friends from South Bend. Yesterday I had an encouraging exchange with Linda Hanstra who thought I had unsubscribed from her blog. I had done no such thing and I'm glad she asked! Then Madge McLaughlin called me from her cabin in northern Georgia where she is self-isolating after her flight from South Bend and before spending time with her daughter's young family. It was so good to chat with her--good for both of us. But in many ways, we are strangers here and do not have friends nearby or neighbors we know.
Family? Our precious Ruth, "one of your favorite grand-daughters," sent me a letter in response to one I had sent her a couple of weeks ago when they were first having to home-school. She is only eight years old but it was such a thoughtful and gracious and mature letter that responded to things that I had written about her school work and the piano that was mine and is now theirs. Last night we visited with Dan and Alex via Facetime which was great. Dan had sent us a video of Alex cheering at their window as a tribute to first responders and health care workers along with other New Yorkers at 7 pm. We could hear the cheers on the streets.We moved here to be near family and now physical contact is forbidden lest we bring our exposure to them or they to us. At least Jim and I are together but it does get lonely.
Work? Jim has his writing projects to do but I have nothing beyond basic household maintenance of laundry and meal planning and preparation. No volunteer work or church music. I need more to do--especially more to do for others.
Faith? I am thankful for our churches here and in South Bend finding ways to help us worship online.
I am thankful for Pray as You Go which I have done almost every morning during Lent while taking a pre-breakfast walk. I am thankful for Sacred Space which I do to calm down and get a better perspective. I am thankful to be able to play hymns on my digital piano but I have to be in the right mood to do that. We miss worshipping in a sanctuary and singing with others. Our faith is personal but really needs the support of a congregation.Writing helps me focus my thoughts and is therapeutic for me. And this time is worth remembering when it is over--which is at some very unknown time in the future. So it will become part of my Blog2Print 2020 book at the end of the year--and I hope will be a distant memory at that point!
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