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Staying Apart, Together: The children are our future (no, but seriously)

Kelly Lawler   | Paste BN

This week I've been struck by how our youngest generation is coping with a changed world. At a Catholic school on my block, elementary-aged children dutifully distance themselves and wear masks, but they're still laughing and playing. I've seen pictures of friends and family kids happily enjoying early at-home Halloween celebrations, Zooming into school and generally being the resilient little miracles that they are. 

Right now I'm waiting anxiously for a new niece or nephew to be born (it's time to come out, kiddo), and I'm thinking that even though things are hard right now, they'll be OK. They may not remember a pre-COVID world, but hopefully they'll remember us coming out the other side of this as better, more caring people. 

Today's big inspiration from the kids

A 13-year-old girl from California is honoring those we've lost to COVID-19.

Eighth-grade student Madeleine Fugate, from Studio City, Calif., has begun working on a "COVID Memorial Quilt," inspired by her mother, Katherine Fugate, who worked on the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt in the 1980s. 

"In seventh grade, for our history final, we had to do a Community Action Project," Madeline told me. "That year it was 'Young Changemakers in a COVID-19 World.'  I was watching the news and they kept saying 'the numbers are going up,' and it really upset me. I told my mom, 'They aren't numbers, they are people. People who died.'"

She started work on the quilt, and is accepting 8x8 squares from anyone who wants to honor a loved one who died. So far she has at least 70 contributions. 

"I hope it is a big deal if that means healing for people. There has been no mourning or grieving," she said. "People have lost people they love who deserve to be remembered."

"I think it feels unsafe right now and kids all over the country are having a hard time," Madeleine added. "Plus, people are dying and there's a lot of sadness and pain. ... I think we all have to find a way to help. That's what this is all about. ... I love what (young activist Greta Thunberg) is doing for the environment. If you have money use it to heal our planet and not hurt it anymore. I love to sew so I'm making a quilt to help people heal."

You can learn more about the project here. And maybe use a quilt square to wipe away your tears. 

Today's weekend thoughts

A few editions ago, I wrote about feeling that in quarantine my weekdays move faster and my weekends move more slowly, a weird consequence of working from home and not leaving the house for parties and outings. Many of you had thoughts (whether you agreed or disagreed with my new perception of time) that I wanted to share with the group. 

From Tara Sonenshine: "Weekends are now for quiet reflection, prayers for our nation and world, silent hopes."

From Sandi J. Gajewski: "These days are so different than past weekends. I have started doing an outside Yoga class one Saturday morning, and the next Saturday an outside Zumba class. Then my boyfriend, our doggie and I go sit by the water for an hour or two. Then (we) make phone calls or work on ongoing projects such as scrapbooking, poetry or music. All the things I've been meaning to do for years but didn't make a priority. Sundays I watch live church, meditate, (pray) and (do) yard work. I really love doing all these things, though I miss going out to dinner and hanging out with friends!"

From JeanMarie Hinds: "I think that we have just the opposite experience from working parents, turned home school teachers ...  We are older and retired. ... There are many tasks made more difficult by this pandemic but it seems that there is more awareness of others too.  People can be a lot more sensitive.  More people seem to check up on us lately, and this makes me check in with others more frequently. We have been able to get closer to extended family members. We are sending more cards, notes and letters!"

From Gwen Ginocchio: "I've kept myself busy with some reading, writing, knitting and jigsaw puzzles. I meditate by myself and do centering prayer with a group on Zoom. My husband and I do YouTube exercise programs. And yes the week days mostly fly by which is weird because when I was working, sometimes the hours dragged. There seemed to be more hours in the day. I was a librarian in an elementary school and it seemed kids were forever coming in and out and then dinner time and lesson planning dragged on. ... I think one of the lessons of the pandemic is that there is always something more to learn if you take the time." 

Keep sending your thoughts and musings to stayingaparttogether@usatoday.com. 

Today's reads

Today's TV recommendations 

For Penny Thomas in Sarasota, Florida

What streaming services do you have?

Amazon Prime, Britbox and Netflix

What are your favorite shows of all time?

"Planet Earth," British and Scandinavian mysteries and movies, "Downton Abbey," Jane Austen adaptations, "Father Brown," "Grace and Frankie," "Doc Martin" and some of the Masterpiece series on PBS.

You should watch...

For anyone who loves "Downton" or British period dramas, I always suggest "Call the Midwife" (available on Netflix). Thelovely show is about obstetric nurses in London in the 1950s, and in addition to more cute babies than you can handle, the series is a smart look at post-war U.K. with a charming young cast. Also, if you haven't caught PBS's latest Jane Austen adaptation, "Sanditon" (based on her unfinished novel), it's available on Amazon with Masterpiece. Sort of like Jane Austen fan fiction, it's adapted by Andrew Davies, who also was behind the 1995 "Pride and Prejudice" with Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy. 

Today's pets

Continuing our month celebrating pet adoption, here are some feline friends who are so cute I want to cry. 

"Here are some photos of our recently adopted daughters," says Molly Hay of Corpus Christi, Texas. "We made the decision that we were ready to adopt another pet into our household (we already have a 5 year old rescue cat). We decided to look for two female litter-mates, as we have had some before and it was fantastic for them to have the companionship! Blessing in disguise, they ended up having THREE female litter-mates! We simply could not leave the third behind, so home we went with all three sisters. They are a joy and a delightful addition to our family!"

I call my dog, Apollo, my son, so we are kindred spirits, Molly. 

That's it for this Saturday, and I'll be back on Tuesday afternoon. Don't forget to send pet pics, TV recommendation requests and random thoughts to our new newsletter email address, stayingaparttogether@usatoday.com. Stay safe. You are all wonderful.

All my very best,

Kelly Lawler

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