Reassuring our Youth

I read on Facebook this morning about a boy who took his own life because of the stresses of our current situation. That breaks my heart! We need to really be mindful of our young folks and help them understand and cope with the realities that we live in.

I’ve been really focused on how all of this is affecting our elderly (which, I’m sorry to say, includes myself and Dennis), families impacted by not being able to work, and those who are immunocompromised. Not having kiddos in my household, I really haven’t been that aware of how it is affecting our youth. Sure, I talk to my kids and ask how their kiddos are doing. But I haven’t realized how much of an impact that the “weirdness” of our times is having on kids.

I guess what I’m wanting to get across is for parents, especially, and all of us to make the effort to talk to our young people. Find out how they are dealing with the uncertainties and social distancing. Let them know that they can talk to us if they are afraid or depressed. My first reaction, after reading about this tragedy, was to think about my teenaged grandkids and reach out to them. Open a line of communication with them. Check in on them on a regular basis to let them know that they aren’t alone and they have people who love them. I have confidence that their parents are already doing that, but it never hurts to reinforce those things.

So, if you have kids, make a special effort to discuss their feelings with them and reassure them. If you don’t have young’uns, reach out to those you know. Adults are having a hard time dealing with all of this. It shouldn’t surprise us that our youth are struggling, too. Be there for them!

...and life goes on

It was great to see all of our congregation last Sunday night. We all parked at the Sextons’ and stood our requisite 6 feet away from one another and caught up. It was Bethany’s birthday the next day, so we sang “Happy Birthday” to her. It was hard not to hug anyone though. I’d watch Judy walk from car to car speaking to everyone, and it was all I could do not to go to her and hold her arm to stabilize her! I don’t know how much longer this is going to last, but I know everyone will be so ready for REAL physical human connection when it is over!

Dennis and I met by ourselves this morning. I had a stomach bug or something, starting Thursday night and going through yesterday. I’m feeling almost back to normal today, but we didn’t want to take any chances, since about one third on COVID-19 cases begin with stomach issues. I missed our little group. But we had a nice surprise this afternoon. Ricky and Amber showed up, peeking through our bay window! We stood outside and visited quite a while. They also peeked at the work progress. It was so good to see them. Again, I had to hold myself back from hugging on them!

Well I was able to get through to the SSA Monday morning, so I (think I) have all of Daddy’s stuff handled…except for a final bill for his medications that I just got. It’s going to have to wait until I get back another refund. It’s surprising what all expenses have to be dealt with when someone passes!

I got quite a bit of knitting done last week and have sent out several packages of dishcloths. I still have a lot more to make! I had ordered a batch of new yarn at the beginning of quarantine, so I have plenty to keep me busy.

I also received the latest Lisa Wingate book last week…”The Book of Lost Friends”. I finished it today and will mail it back to my “big sister” in the Sisterhood of the Traveling Books tomorrow. I’ve really enjoyed participating in the “sisterhood” for the past several years. We get Lisa’s latest book to read and share our thoughts in the book margins. Then we send the book on to another sister until all of the group has finished it. So we not only get to read the book, but we get to know one another through reading the shared notes. This year was a little different. We only had a big, middle and little sister in each group, rather than the 10 or more that we had in previous years. I think I liked this way better. I loved the book (as always)! Lisa has a real talent for taking things from history and bringing them alive with her storytelling.

I also have Gracie’s birthday present to mail tomorrow. Her 2^nd birthday (Zoom) party will be Friday. I can hardly believe that she is going to be two already! I miss that little sweetie (and her brothers) SO much! I’m really looking forward to being able to love on all of my grandkids again!

Dennis’ back continues to improve with his inversion table. He still walks crooked when he first gets up after sitting awhile. But he has been able to start back working on the house. He got the closet at the end of the hall boxed in and the door hung. He is busy knocking out the hall bathroom door now. He had to tear out my linen closet to do that. He hopes to get the new, wider door hung with in the next couple of days. Then he’ll make a new door for the other hall closet. It has had bi-louvered doors, which we both despise. They have been a pain since we moved in…coming off-track or getting jammed. He’ll be making the door frame smaller and just putting in a normal 2-ft door. I’m also having him redesign the shelves to make room for storing my vacuum cleaner. I love being able to build things (or have Dennis build them!) to accommodate my needs, rather than having to have standard shelving. Once all of the hallway doors are hung, we can finish drywalling the rest of the living room and all of the hall at one time.

Well, that’s what is going on in our “sheltering in place”. How are all of you keeping yourselves busy? Stay safe!

Hanging in There

I can hardly believe that we are almost halfway through April already! Even with being trapped at home, time rushes by.


I was able to get a little CASA work done last week…via Zoom, video chats and texts. I also made good progress on my dishrag knitting. I have to kind of space that out, because my hands go numb if I do too much at a time. So I knit 2-3 rows, then take a break. I mostly work on them in the evening while I’m watching tv.


I made a new sourdough starter last week. My old one had been neglected a few months back, so I threw it out. I baked a loaf of bread Wednesday. It sure was good! We love fresh bread, but we really don’t need to be eating much of it! I just made a small loaf. It was perfect for supper, then I sliced the leftovers the next day to make grilled cheese sandwiches. I figure having it once a week won’t hurt us too much.


Last week was the roughest week that I’ve had since Daddy died. I started noticing about midweek that I felt numb. I would try to get busy with something, but my heart just wasn’t in it. Then Thursday, I cried off and on all day. I couldn’t really say why I was crying, I’d just burst into tears for no reason. I guess it is just part of the grief process. The social isolation was probably working on me, too. We usually order takeout on Fridays, so I told Dennis that I wanted to take our burgers to the park to get out of the house awhile. It was such a beautiful day. It was sunny, but there was a nice cool breeze blowing. We weren’t ready to go back home afterwards, so we headed west of town and drove around for a bit. I had been seeing pictures posted on Facebook of the flowers at the Indian Creek cemetery, so we headed out there to see them for ourselves. The Indian paintbrushes are at their peak right now…just gorgeous! I’ve really felt much better since our outing. Then last night, Stephen set up a Zoom visit. Usually when we do them, Gracie is already in bed. But we did it early enough last night that we got to visit with her. She is changing SO much! She just chatters up a storm. (I can’t understand most of what she says, but that’s ok!) She also sang for us. Loved it!


I’m still trying to get all of Daddy’s final business taken care of. It has been challenging with the way things are right now. I FINALLY got his bank account closed and received the check yesterday. I worked on that for almost two weeks via phone calls. I still haven’t been able to get through to Social Security. I’m going to try again first thing in the morning. I’ve distributed all of the death certificates that I needed to (I think!). Stephen is still working on closing out his investment account and distributing the assets to the various beneficiaries. Kathy sent me Daddy’s tax return yesterday with a payment voucher. I had forgotten all about the taxes that he would owe! Thankfully I still have enough that was left in his bank account to pay it. I still should be getting a couple more refunds…from the nursing home and his last retirement check. (It had actually already been deposited in his account, but the bank returned it…even after I had told them that TRS said it was for us to keep.) Even though we had greatly simplified things for him when we put them in Brookdale, it is surprising how much still had to be done after his death.


We are thankful to be able to have small assemblies on Sunday mornings. Our congregation broke up into 4-5 small groups that meet in different houses. We have 7 that meet in our house. That has really helped, too! Kirk was our speaker this morning and gave a wonderful lesson on “What is Truth?” After our worship, we all sat around and discussed the lesson, what’s going on around the world, and how each of us are doing. This was our 4^th Sunday to meet this way, and Dennis commented on the fact that we’ve had 100% attendance every time! I think we are all enjoying our time together. Even though we purposely try to limit our time together, for safety reasons, we have a hard time breaking up and going our separate ways.


Dora contacted our whole congregation yesterday and suggested that we do a drive-by parade for Gayland and Judy tonight. Being our oldest members and both being in “reduced health”, we figured that our current world situation is probably harder on them than the rest of us. We plan to meet after supper tonight and surprise them. I think almost all of our congregation is planning to participate. I hope that it is effective at cheering them up. Plus it will be really nice to see everyone again…even if it is from the “safety” of our vehicles. I love all of the ways that people are finding to stay connected and help each other out during these trying times!


Before our forced isolation, I had planned to take a trip (probably to Big Bend) after Daddy died to have some quiet time to decompress. After having an abundance of quiet time, I think I’m going to change my mind. When we finally are set free, I still want to take a trip, but I want to go where I can be with people! I still like to vacation in sparsely populated areas, but a side trip or two to visit loved ones will definitely be on our itinerary!


Enjoy the beauty where you are and stay safe!

How are YOU doing?

This is probably the most asked question of our day. With social distancing, and sheltering at home, we are relying on social media and texting and phone calls to stay in touch. The stress of the times is having it's toll on everyone. So naturally, we all want to check in on our loved ones to see how they are doing.

I am enjoying this new sense of community and concern for one another. It's ironic that being restricted to electronic communication (which many of us have chafed at for years) has made us so much more in tune with others and desirous of face-to-face time. I hope that when this is all over that we hang on to this newfound concern and connectedness!

Now to answer the question...how am I doing? I'm fine! Being retired, this isn't a huge change for Dennis and me. We miss assembling with our normal group on Sundays and being able to eat out...plus a few inconveniences of having to do business under these restrictive circumstances. But we pretty much stayed home most of the time anyway, other than running errands and visiting our kiddos occasionally. The biggest change for me is not going to the nursing home every day to see about Daddy, which has nothing to do with COVID-19. The first few days after his burial, I felt a bit lost with no one to take care of anymore. I still need to find a new "purpose" once I'm able to get out and around again. I'm a caregiver. I don't really know how to be anything else.

I've received so many cards and messages from people who are wanting to know how I'm doing after losing Daddy. Honestly, I feel fine. Those last two weeks of his life, I grieved terribly...crying every day, my heart breaking from watching him die. After he died, until we buried him, my emotions were still raw. But I haven't cried in over a week. I understand, from times past after losing a loved one, that grief can get put on hold. It takes weeks or months, sometimes, for it to really hit you. Then it can wash over you and feel overwhelming at the most incongruous time. So I realize that I may still have some grieving to do. I honestly feel like most of my grieving took place over the past 3 years, as I watched my dad fade away and become someone that I didn't recognize anymore.

As far as how I'm holding up under the pandemic "scare", I'm really not having any problems. I'm thankful that I'm facing this at a time in my life when I've already weathered my share of storms. My faith has been reassured so many times throughout my life that I am really not worried about how I'm going to get through this. I don't want to get the virus, and I'm using reasonable caution to avoid it, but if I do get it, I'm not afraid to die. I don't particularly want to go through the suffering, but I know that God would see me through that, too. Our finances have taken a big hit because of all of this, but we are still better off than we were for many years when we were younger. I'm hoping that none of my family or friends will get the virus, and I pray for them daily, but I am assured that God will take care of His children...whatever may come.

That's not to say that I'm totally unaffected by the stress of the times. I'm hyperaware of everything that I feel in my body. I regularly check my temperature, so that I can take measures if I should get sick. Since this is allergy season, and I always have a chronic cough and chest tightness, I want to make sure that it is just my regular stuff. I also find myself getting a bit short-tempered and irritated from time to time. Whether that is from grief, stress or just being cooped up at home, or a combination of all three, is anybody's guess. But I'm trying to focus on good things every day...reading heartwarming stories about everyday heroes on social media; doing my daily Bible study and journaling; staying in contact with friends and family though texts, phone calls, Zoom, cards, etc.; and doing a little knitting to feel like I'm being somewhat productive.

So that's how I'm doing in all of this craziness that's going on. How are YOU doing?