Eyes that see the good in things: March 23, 2020

Uncertainty about Coronavirus has many of us a little unnerved as we wait in the United States to see what unfolds as the disease progresses across the country. The internet has been overtaken with information, both good and bad, while toilet paper seems to have become one of society’s most valuable items. Conversation in local businesses centers around coronavirus, so the conversation about calving that I overheard while waiting in line at the store yesterday was a refreshing, back to normal conversation.

Social distancing has become a phrase that we all understand now as we all do our part to minimize the spread of the disease by staying home. Social media has become an outlet for people to stay connected to family and friends while they remain at home.

Heartwarming stories are also starting to trickle out as Americans learn to deal with this “new normal” that we will live in for a while. We’re reading about restaurants and service groups that are providing lunches for food insecure school age students around the state.

We all have people that we are concerned about who are in those higher risk categories, so it was nice for me to hear about the delivery of supplies that my brother made to my parent’s home. Mom’s stories about the special services being offered by their small-town businesses were even more heartwarming. The local grocery store will be making deliveries to the town’s senior citizens and when my mom called her prescription refill into the local pharmacy, they told her to not to come into the store, to just drive up, let them know she was there and they would bring the order out to her. Stories like these are becoming more and more common. The grocery store in New Rockford has long made grocery deliveries and Dollar General is reserving their first hour of business for senior shoppers.

We also know that long periods of time isolated from family and friends can be depressing and I think about all the people in long-term care facilities who are under visitor restrictions. That’s why I loved the picture that’s been floating around Facebook for a couple of days of a son sitting on a lawn chair next to a glass door, grinning at his elderly father on the other side of the glass, as they visit over the phone.

Another story along the same lines was recounted by a young woman, who tells how she found her father cheering up her grandmother and her friends, by playing guitar music for them outside the windows of their assisted living facility that was under lockdown. She said that the smiles on their faces showed that, especially in these times of uncertainty, a little kindness can go a long way.

Some Senior Centers in North Dakota are changing the way they do business, too. With the new restrictions on social distancing, they are no longer having activities or in-house meals. Instead, they are offering a drive through meal service. The senior citizens can call their order in ahead of time to purchase both hot and frozen meals. The drive through is open for about an hour during which time people can drive up to the Senior Center, roll down their back-seat window and have a hot meal placed in the back seat of their car. For people not able to drive, they will still arrange to have home delivered meals.

The Heaven’s Helper Soup Café in Bismarck is still serving meals but taking special precautions and have mentioned that it is possible that they may have to start providing meals to go. They’re still strongly committed to keep providing meals for people who need them.

Two of my favorite stories are light-hearted stories. You may have heard that actor Tom Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson were two of the first celebrities who tested positive for the virus. While in isolation, Wilson had a bit of fun on social media, creating a Spotify playlist of songs related to isolation, for people who are quarantined.

Wilson asked followers for suggestions of songs and asked them to help with a name for her playlist. It wasn’t long before they came up with the name “Quarantunes” and they had an impressive collection of songs.

Among those songs included are Right Here Waiting, Lonely People, All By Myself, Don’t Let Me Be Lonely Tonight, Grateful, Dancing With Myself, I’m So Tired, Come Healing, I Will Survive, Hello Walls, Don’t Stand So Close To Me, If I Could Turn Back Time and It’s the End of the World as We Know It (and I Feel Fine.)

I love the humor that is injected into a situation that could otherwise be miserable. As Wilson says, that’s what you do when you have all that time. “You think of things like this.”

One more story that I loved is not complete without the picture that goes with it, but I will do my best. A couple living in Melbourne, Australia had been looking forward to the cruise they had scheduled to celebrate their 53rd wedding anniversary. After their cruise was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, the couple was disappointed about their travel restriction. So, they buoyed their spirits by recreating their cruise in their living room.

They were sitting in their living room talking about the canceled cruise when their daughter searched for an “ocean video” on YouTube. She said she found one that lasted about an hour and told her parents that they could feel like they were on their cruise. They laughed about it and then her Dad jumped up and went and put his robe on.

Chuckling, the idea for the “celebration” grew from there. Soon, the couple were both in white, spa-like bathrobes with their bare-feet pointed toward the ocean on the big-screen television, sipping wine like beverages from glass stemware. The ideas kept coming to them and soon they had added a hat, sunglasses and finally added in toilet paper and hand sanitizers.

The pictures were originally only intended for the rest of their family but after laughing about it for a while, their daughter submitted their clip to Twitter, captioning it, “Cruise cancelled? No problem.”

What great ideas to keep things light and to keep the kindness going!

We would love to share local stories about the good things your eyes are seeing.

Stop in to share your stories with us, give us a call at 947-2417 or e-mail us at [email protected]. Or send a letter to Eyes That See the Good in Things, c/o Allison Lindgren, The Transcript 6 8th St N., New Rockford, ND 58356.