It is hard to believe that COVID-19 shut down the world three years ago! Most of us have either hidden in our houses, refrained from mingling with anybody else, or put in a large supply of face masks and hand sanitizer.
And yes, I have felt like a hermit at times – except for the daily ZOOM calls, including almost daily on-line services from my synagogue, Har Zion Temple. It’s interesting how you become friendly with people you have never met in person, but you feel as if you know them just from seeing them on-line on a daily basis, and having a chance to chat with them briefly before the meeting or the services begin.
When one of our daily minyan, Bernie, who always had a new joke every night to tell us before services began, passed away, we all felt bereft. And still do.
And most of the boards I serve on have been virtually meeting for three years now, and several will continue to do so. I find it very difficult to breathe with a mask on which is why I avoid going places where there are lots of people. Breathing.
My friend Jill Kleeman had been asking me for weeks on end to ride with her to Ventnor, where we both own apartments which we use on weekends in nice weather. It had been several years since I had ventured forth down the shore, but Sunday was finally a sunny perfect day for a shore visit for just half a day. Jill was nice enough to do the driving up and back.
I called my friend Arlene Halpern, who had moved to Margate after nearly a lifetime in Lower Merion, and asked her to meet us for a late lunch at Downbeach Deli. Arlene’s son-in-law Jonathan Goldstein is the co-writer of the brand new hit movie, “Dungeons and Dragons.” Arlene’s daughter Adena, is a writer in her own right, but she and the 11-year-old wunder child Samson spent eight months in Northern Ireland during the worst of the COVID close-down, filming the movie.
The three of us women are all on the same page politically and there was a lot to talk about. And agree upon. While enjoying the delicatessen specialties. Sort of like Hymie’s-down-the-shore!
Spoke to my friend Gloria Hochman a few days ago, who is recovering from a bad fall which happened in November. She told me that her journalist daughter, Andee Hochman, whose articles appear in the Inquirer every week, does what I have to do: interviews people on the phone or by zoom. Neither of us ever misses a print deadline, despite the shutdowns and fear of COVID.
I have a number of friends who, like me have had all the vaccinations and the three booster shots, and yet they started going out to places with other people – and they ended up with COVID. One of my Har Zion virtual friends, Alan, just re-joined us on-line because he is recovering from long COVID, having suffered for 22 days and still is not feeling well. Pavloxid helped him, but he has a long way to go.
My best friend Debby Wolff, Esq., had “a cold” for a couple of weeks, and I kept urging her to get tested for COVID. When she finally got hold of one of the free COVID tests, it turned out she was positive. For COVID. But she had a mild case, fortunately, and yes, she had taken all the shots as well. I avoided being anywhere near her, though, until she test negative for a week or so.
My daffodils have been brightening up my yard on the dreariest of rainy days. So have my bright yellow forsythia bushes. And today for the first time I noticed pink buds on my giant cherry tree in my side yard. I think that having had Sav-a-Tree folks prune everything on my property a few months ago really helped.
I am currently without my beloved red 2014 Lexus, however, but between Horace Mann insurance company and Wilkie Lexus, my dealership, I hope the problems will be solved very soon.
Meanwhile, there are movies to rent on television, and books to read and interviews to do. And on-line orders to plan for groceries and restaurant delivery. But will we ever truly get rid of COVID?
Bonnie Squires is a communications consultant who writes weekly for Main Line Media News and can be reached at www.bonniesquires.com. She hosts the “Bonnie’s Beat” TV show at MLTV- MAIN LINE NETWORK
