How can we help each other?

I woke up at 5 this morning feeling anxious for the first time since the Coronavirus emerged. Not so much anxious for myself, but for the many older friends and neighbors who have much less support than I do.  How can I help, when my retirement community is now closed to outsiders? We are effectively locked in.

Nancy, Dinah and I started this blog because we were proud of the fact that we were getting older but could still accomplish things, help others, lead productive lives. At this moment in history, and in our own lives, being able to help all of you, our subscribers, is something we very much want to do. So in addition to our post on the Coronavirus a few weeks ago, here are some very concrete things we hope will help, and we welcome your feedback.

Let’s start a discussion.  The comment function in our posts allows you to express your feelings, ideas, and ask for help. Most of you have not used it, but we ask you to try it now. Let us know how you are doing and what you are doing to make it through this isolating time.

One of the most basic needs we all have is food. But how are you getting your food? Are you still shopping at the grocery store? (Grocery stores are working hard to keep clean and as germ free as possible. ) Can you use a grocery delivery service like Amazon Prime, Instacart, Vons delivery? I heard of someone who had been to the local grocery store and was on her way back  to her car when she  passed an older couple sitting in their car. They rolled the window down a bit and called out to her. “Can you help us? We are afraid to go into the store.”  She offered to go back into the store and shop for them, and when she returned, they were both sobbing with relief. They didn’t know what to do. They were afraid to catch the virus so they had been sitting in their car for over an hour trying to get someone to help them.  If you are able to shop, check with your neighbors. Perhaps you can buy some things for them too. In many communities, the local Village (check if you have one) and other nonprofits will do grocery shopping for you. Would you like to set up grocery delivery to your home? Ask your friends or a neighbor to help you do that.  Do you  know how to order food “to go” from a local restaurant?  All it takes is a credit card number.

My retirement community is closing its doors to outsiders today at noon. We will not be able to have family or friends visit us. We can still go out, because we have no cases of Coronavirus here yet, but we have been asked to stay in the “local area,” however that is defined. We will have no social events or communal dining. Food will be delivered to our apartments. It is a daunting and isolating challenge, so I have been thinking about how my husband and I can help others here to stay connected. On our building floor, there are several people who live alone. As long as we keep a reasonable distance from each other, we can invite them over for drinks or to share a meal. If we have Netflix but they don’t, we can watch one of the great Netflix comedies together. Laughter is not meant to be experienced alone.

It’s almost tax time. If you have a tax accountant, it’s likely you can still safely go to their office and have them help you. If your taxes are not too complicated, you can use Turbotax or another online product.  I imagine that the IRS will provide extensions for people who can’t file in time, so check on that.

Use the internet to connect with friends, Skype or Facetime to actually see the faces of family and friends while you talk! The outcome of this virus may be that we reconnect with old friends and become even closer to family members!

Get out of your house or apartment and walk (once the rain stops!). A simple walk around the block (with your dog if possible) can help you see things in a different way and meet some neighbors on the way.

So share your ideas with us.  Ask us questions and maybe we can try to answer them. Americans are best when they face challenges together. Some of my own best times have been during just such challenges — when there was a big flood in our town and we all had to work together to solve the problems, or the time when a tree fell and blocked our road and we all had to go out and cut it down. We worked together and we had fun and we solved the problems.  Let’s do that again.

Something to inspire from Maya Angelou today…

We, this people, on a small and lonely planet
Traveling through casual space
Past aloof stars, across the way of indifferent suns
To a destination where all signs tell us
It is possible and imperative that we learn
A brave and startling truth…

When we come to it
We, this people, on this wayward, floating body
Created on this earth, of this earth
Have the power to fashion for this earth
A climate where every man and every woman
Can live freely without sanctimonious piety
Without crippling fear

When we come to it
We must confess that we are the possible
We are the miraculous, the true wonder of this world
That is when, and only when
We come to it.

 

 

13 thoughts on “How can we help each other?”

  1. Remember back in the olden days, last week, when some among us complained about social media ruining personal contacts?

    Now – what a blessing to be able to ???☹️ communicate instantly and remotely with friends and family next door or across the world. Thank you ladies for this thoughtful blog

    1. Thanks, Linda, for taking the time necessary to share your thoughts and wisdom with all of us. As important as it is to keep up with the current media news, sharing the thoughtful suggestions of all of our members is invaluable.

      1. Being isolated at home working on technical & creative projects is already my favorite thing to do. So I’m like, “What virus??” LOL.

        PS: I just built myself a WordPress web site hosted on Google Cloud Platform which gives me a whole year free followed by $3.88/month. It was a bit tricky getting it to padlock with SSL, but I solved that by using the free DNS service provided by Cloudflare. If anyone is interested I’ll provide a link to my new stuff.

        1. Hey, where were you when we were doing our blog with WordPress? We are stuck with WordPress right now. Wish we knew enough to do what you did!

          1. Is there anything I can offer to help get you unstuck? I have both time and WordPress experience (not an expert! LOL) For me the biggest problem was always dealing with web hosting companies. They get people started with these ‘teaser’ rates then jack up their prices a year in, and even more the following year. These companies know that moving a site to another host is either quite challenging or quite expensive for the average DIY user, so they can get away with it. I have (had!) a non-Wordpress site on GoDaddy, but since it is about to renew for the so called ‘regular’ price of 120+ dollars per year, I decided to learn how to essentially be my own web host using Google Cloud Platform tools. It took me a few days of trial and error and frustration to learn how to use their stuff, but now I’m happy I did I notice your site is on Blue Host which may be a better company than GoDaddy, but all these hosting companies are IMHO soon to go out of business because of the likes of Google Cloud, Amazon AWS and MS Azure taking over the world.
            Please let me know if I can help you with something!
            Best-Steve Hansen

  2. My tax preparer called to say he is cancelling all his in office appointments as a preventive measure so he doesn’t become ill. He asked that I drop off the paperwork or mail it or email it to him.

    My friends Nancy and Sharon and I met for dinner last night at Sharon’s house. We were able to sit 6 feet apart in the living room and spent an enjoyable evening. We brought in food and split the cost. We are all very active seniors and needed to be together for self preservation.

    I’m a CVV call manager today and will see what the requests are. We are now prioritizing Medical and PT appointments over non-necessities. Our volunteers are seniors too.

    Be well!

  3. One of our subscribers suggested a “virtual dinner party”…using Zoom, everyone joins for cocktails and to show what they are eating. Then dinner and conversation. You don’t get the chance to sample the food from others, but you get to talk to each other “as if” you were at the same table. Also, others suggested dancing in your driveway and having others on the street join in from their driveways! I am so impressed by the ingenuity and kindness being shown around the country. Nothing like a disaster to get people together!

  4. Good morning Linda – what a great Post – with my background, which you know a lot about, I have never been as lonely as now when I sit around all day – I have been active since I was a child in Germany and Bolivia, and then for 40 years took care of a sick husband – I like your ideas. The other day the sun was shining and I decided to take a walk with my walker, to the mailbox – as I was carrying the mail under one arm, and holding on to the walker with the other – one of my neighbors stopped her car, asked me how I was, etc. and had I ever thought of tying a small shopping bag around the handle of the walker – I looked at her like she was crazy, she got out of the car, went in the back, took out a bag and did it for me. Since then, that is what I have been doing – great idea, and how helpful. Many thanks, keep BLOGGING. With love, Ursula

    1. So many good ideas! The best part of getting out of the house is seeing neighbors, even from afar. We should all take a good walk around the block!

  5. Hi all! My Dad and I FaceTimed yesterday for the 1st time. It really did feel different. He and I are going to do that every day now! Be well, everyone.

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