6/8/21 6/8/21

Blog Bio New hope as pandemic gives way to hugs

It’s a new day. More and more individuals are leaving masks behind, along with their fears. Others are no longer afraid to greet family, neighbors and friends. Six feet is too far away these days. Hugs are back in though most ask before making that move.

Do you know how good hugs feel after a year without them? Hugs, time together, and face-to-face conversations are not only something humans do, but an essential part of being mentally as well as physically whole and healthy. We haven’t been healthy as a culture for over a year, a year given over to fears and wondering what and whom to believe about our medical well-being.

Spring has brought new hope and sunshine as well as needed rain. It has opened doors for us to reach out to one another again. We had close friends drop by for a few moments to say “hi.” and to give us a loaf of homemade banana bread bought on a jaunt out of town.

Another neighbor who was walking by with her little dog stopped in when she saw our friend’s car. Not much time then, but we checked out schedules and made plans to meet at Perkins in a couple of days. That was the beginning of the evening.

Two days later, Keith and I got out of the house for haircuts. Got out to buy pots of flowers for cemetery plots for Memorial Day. Got out to meet our friends for supper. We ate, laughed, talked and simply enjoyed each other’s company. After last year we valued our time together.

After supper, we met back at our house and gathered around our card table to play a game Keith bought that had us using words from songs we recalled. It was one of those games in which coming up with songs from the trigger words was fun even if you were in last place on the board.

Again we laughed, talked, and checked up some songs on cell phones. No one cared who moved the pieces on the board. We were friends from long-standing, who knew each other, trusted each other and had always been there for one another. Now we were able to enjoy being together as we hadn’t been able to do during the last year.

We played two games filled with songs, conversation and laughter. Overhead, the sky thundered. Rain fell. It was time to break up and for our friends to head home. We said our goodbyes and watched them go.

For some, it was a small thing, friends getting together. I saw it differently. Friendships had been renewed and deepened. My lips curved into a smile and my heart filled with joy as I filed away a brand-new and precious memory.

My husband and I decided to make this evening a beginning for friends, fellowship, fun--and the making of positive memories. Is it time for you to do the same?

2/1/21 2/1/21

Blog Attitude and blessings during a pandemic

The immense challenges of 2020 were unexpected. No one predicted the year we’ve left behind—with relief. We’ve dealt with any number of unexpected events and tragedies during my lifetime including 911 and flues that sent many home from school and jobs to recover, to the hospitals, and to the mortuaries.

Still, nothing prepared us for not only the Covid-19 pandemic but also the response to it that had never before been part of dealing with a contagion, flu or other deadly diseases. This time we insisted those who were still healthy be as restricted as those who showed signs of illness.

This disease targets the elderly and those with underlying health conditions, yet we insist on treating children in the same way we treat adults—cutting them off from human contact in public and at school.

Without their consent or vote, we locked up the elderly in centers where family members could not check on them to make sure our parents or loved ones were not being abused in any way. They were cut off from family and from hugs and attention at the very time they most needed it.

We insisted on masks and self-distancing until it almost became a habit and someone giving a hug looked at almost with horror. Restrictions on gatherings have caused untold difficulties from the destruction of livelihoods to the inability to worship all together and encouraging interpersonal relationships so vital to the health and the well-being of human beings.

Many died. Many from Covid, some from the increase in loneliness, suicide, drugs and alcohol usage, and mental health issues--some of which stemmed from the lack of contact. We can look back and see nothing but tragedy or we can look back and also see the positives of the year, positives that can carry us forward with hope.

This pandemic happened at a time practically the whole world is interconnected. We have social media with friends around the world with whom we can “talk.” We have video chats and Zoom, which means we can still be part of a worship service, a business meeting or gather as a family from places all over the country to laugh and catch up with each other’s lives.

Many parents have discovered the value of homeschooling and have turned to this more intimate mode of education for their children. Schools have gone to online education, which while certainly not as personal as classroom learning still helps ensure children are not left behind.

Staying home for some individuals and families has been a blessing, with more family time, along with more quiet time to think and just be. Businesses have discovered many employees work as effectively at home as at work. Some businesses will even continue this arrangement with some employees after the pandemic is over.

We are a resourceful people, and we can be amazingly creative in handling whatever comes up. We must also remember we are a free people and be cautious of the intrusion of government into our lives.

The best way to beat this situation is to look for the good and positive. Count the blessings and give thanks. The best way to deal with what’s happening isn’t with complaints, anger, and frowns, (though we can push back on unscientific masking and shots) but with hope and a positive, upbeat attitude that God is good and tomorrow really is another day.

3/20/20 3/20/20

Blog 2007 Minneapolis Bridge Collapse and What We Can learn from Tragedy

An aerial view shows the collapsed I-35W bridge Aug. 4, 2007.

Life goes off the rails of our plans often with little or no warning, Life happens. One of that horrifying and totally unexpected occurrences was the collapse of the 35W bridge in Minneapolis, MN.

After it happened and it made national news, most saw photos and viewed video clips of the massive 35W bridge that collapsed in Minneapolis and followed the search to account for all those who were traveling on the doomed bridge that afternoon. For all the tragedies, there were miracles as well.

My cousin Dwight Nelson lives in the Minneapolis area. He and his family regularly used what he called “perhaps one of the two most often traveled bridges in Minnesota.” August 1, 2007, the 35W bridge, with a 500 foot span that connected the downtown and southern areas of Minneapolis with the northern suburbs and the rest of the city, collapsed during heavy traffic. (The bridge was near where my Aunt Esther lived in a retirement situation.)

Dwight's son, Mark, regularly took that bridge home from work. About the time Mark should have been on the bridge, Dwight got the news of its collapse. For an hour, Dwight tried to raise Mark on his cell phone, but everything was jammed. To his great relief, he found a message on his computer when he reached home. "Heya, I'm alive." Because of road construction, Mark had taken a different route that afternoon.

That was just one of the miracles my cousin experienced that day. Dwight's cousin Dave should have been on that bridge. But that afternoon a co-worker dropped by and started chatting, and kept talking and talking. Dave missed the crossing and the collapse on a bridge he'd used earlier in the day.

Dwight wrote this about his own escape. “I just picked up Mandy, my daughter, at the airport. (She'd been on a mission's trip.) Since we were out looking for a quick snack, we ended up on a freeway connecting to 35W. I was tempted to take 35W home, which would have put us on the 35W bridge. At the last minute, I turned around and took a different freeway home, even though it was probably about 5 miles longer. I am not sure why I did that other than I knew traffic would be bad on 35W. Deep down, I also feel it was God's hand moving us to take a different route home.”

Mandy's friend escaped the collapse by a few minutes simply because she wanted to arrive at the Minnesota Twins ballgame early. Her friend, who realized she’d missed by minutes being on the bridge when it collapsed, was so shook up she left the game. Dwight also told of a stranger who stood behind him at the hardware store who said he would have been on the bridge. It was the way home. But last minute plans with his son took him another direction.

Dwight ended his post with, “I'm sure the stories will go on and on, so many people use that bridge. I am also sure that God leads and directs our lives in many different ways....” Sometimes miracles aren't huge. Sometimes God uses what might otherwise be everyday frustrations and circumstances to change our lives.

God is right here even during times of tragedy like the bridge collapse or dealing with a pandemic. He doesn’t promises roses all the time, but He does promise to be with us, comfort and guide us as we turn to, rather than away, from Him when we go through difficult circumstances.

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