Connie Russell
This national crisis has left us stunned. We mourn the loss of so many people and weep for the dedication of our health care workers, police, firefighters, and first responders. But in the midst of this crisis, our humanity and caring shine through on so many fronts, and these bring us hope.
I have lunch on a regular basis with a group of women that all belong to the same organization. Many of those friendships have been casual. But as time goes by and we use group email to make connections, I find that I get to know these women in ways that I never have before, and our friendships deepen. I now know that Laurel has a daughter in law with a double lung transplant. I know Deb is sewing masks for health care facilities; she has taken time off from sewing hygiene kits for the young women in San Salvador. I heard from Mary Ann that the folks in River Falls are putting teddy bears in windows to give joy to children on walks with their parents. Sue is painting on silk scarves—a talent of which I wasn’t aware. Marge is baking bread again and, sadly, Nancy’s son has a serious medical issue. We send silly jokes to each other, and we talk about walking together as the weather warms. We are bound to each other by our organizational mission but also because we care and sustain hope for the days ahead.
On other fronts, the local library staff is thinking of ways we can give back to the businesses who take out memberships with the Friends of the Library and just today, I received from a classmate of long ago a note and pictures from the spring picnic at our country school when I was in seventh grade. I’ll write back to her. A high school classmate that I’ve rarely heard from sends me political cartoons on Messenger on a daily basis now, and my two sisters and brother are now in contact nearly every day. While we can’t see and touch those we love, we can listen to them and try to give hope to each other.
I text each day with a long time friend with a suppressed immune system, and our book club will use Zoom to have a session. We aren’t called the Greedy Readers for nothing. I’ve stopped procrastinating and read some nonfiction books that I kept ignoring, and my husband and I ordered a new game that we’ve yet to master so that we can take breaks from the constant news barrage.
Once this crisis is over, may we remember the little acts of kindness and the need to care enough about others to connect and deepen the friendships we have as well as reach out to others to give them hope.
Connie Russell lives in Chippewa Falls where she reads, writes, and spends time with her husband, family, and friends. Connie is a past participant in the Chippewa Valley Writers Guild retreats. She has published her memoir as well as articles in Volume One, Language Arts and Wisconsin English Journal. She has also written chapters for three professional books.