Staying Apart, Together: Long lost friends, coping skills revisited and more
Well, 2021 is just normal now.
We made it through the December holiday season (go us!), but now we have a long winter ahead of us. And if the grim numbers in the news are any indication, it's going to be a long road back to normalcy, even with the vaccines being distributed. But there is an end in sight, and it gets a little closer everyday. Now that it's the new year, it feels more real than ever.
For this week I'm reminding you all of some of the classic coping skills and advice that have helped me (and many of you who have written in) during the pandemic: Focusing on mental health and staying in touch with our loved ones. I've included some resources and really lovely stories below that I hope will get your week off to a good start. I know I say this a lot, but we got this. We can do it. I'm proud of you all.
Today's silver lining
Raise your hand if you're more (virtually) in touch with your friends and family than you were a year ago. I am.
During the early days of the pandemic, I started a group text with my cousins (my dad is one of nine children so I have quite a few cousins who I don't get to see all the time). Our "cousins chat" has become one of my most important outlets in these long hard months, and I am so happy every day that I know more about cousin's lives, and can lean on them for support.
And I'm not alone, according to this wonderful new piece from my friends at New York's Rockland/Westchester Journal News, part of the Paste BN Network. The forced social isolation of the coronavirus pandemic has inspired many to rekindle old friendships and nurture relationships with distant family members that may have waned over time. Reaching farther and wider than our usual circle is the antidote for being socially isolated, say mental health experts.
The paper collected stories of those who reached out to long-lost loved ones.
For more than 50 years, Ronni Diamondstein had preserved a folded piece of yellowing paper with a handwritten recipe for chocolate cake.
From time to time, she’d used the well-worn recipe, written in green ink and blotted in parts from years of use. Every time she baked the cake, she’d fondly remember its author: Mrs. Ellen LeClair, her high school French teacher.
Then this past June, Diamondstein went looking for her old teacher whom she had last spoken to 50 years ago. A friend's husband died of COVID-19 in April and she said she found herself thinking about the fleeting nature of life and about the people who had meant a lot to her.
Diamondstein found her teacher was living in Hawaii through a Google search. She wrote a letter and included her email.
“Getting a reply from her was like a shining light that came into my life during this time; somebody who knew me as a child," Diamondstein said. "She helped me become the person I am today,” she said. “And I wanted her to know it.”
Read more of the stories here, and try not to tear up.
Today's coping strategies (again)
Back in May, I wrote to you all about a study about coping with the pandemic being done at the University of Memphis aimed at helping researchers understand what we are all going through. Unfortunately, all these months later we're still going through it and the study is still recruiting participants.
Here's a brief appeal from study manager Olivia Glasgow, a fellow Staying Apart, Together reader:
The COVID-19 public health crisis and the large-scale societal changes implemented to combat the virus have impacted all individuals in profound and unique ways. This research seeks to understand individual experiences and evaluate ways of coping during the pandemic.
With the increase in COVID-19 cases, I believe that both the Pandemic Coping Project and the people who participate could benefit from becoming involved with the assigned coping strategies.
You can learn more and sign up as a participant here.
Today's reads
- My colleague Mary Cadden loved Tarryn Fisher's latest thriller, "The Wrong Family," calling it "the perfect book for readers when one shocking plot twist is not nearly enough." Read her review here.
- From last week, my fellow TV reporter Bill Keveney, who has gotten to meet some truly legendary stars, recalls the time he met the late Dawn Wells at a boat party. "I remember Wells, then in her mid-60s, as enthusiastic and friendly, no mean feat when you're answering the same questions you've heard for so many years about a show that likely cost you later gigs due to typecasting. She was either having a good time or making sure her fans did."
- A few retirees reflect on the money and investing advice they would give their younger selves if they could do it all again.
- Earth hasn't been that great of late. But is living on, say, Mars actually a good idea? We investigate.
Today's pet
Meet a wonderful pup who deserves a standing ovation, Bravo.
"Bravo may have lost a toe, an eye, and muscle mass in his back legs but he is still the best greyhound in the world!" says human Sheila Cootes of Merritt Island, Florida. "We rescued him 10½ years ago and he was 13 last August. We had three cats when he joined our family and he got along with all of them. Now he just has one, George."
I love you, Bravo.
That's all for this Tuesday. There won't be a newsletter this Saturday as I'm taking some time off, but you can still send me TV recommendation requests, coping tips and pet pictures to stayingaparttogether@usatoday.com. Stay safe, stay well. I shall return next Tuesday. I'll miss you while I'm gone.
All my very best,
Kelly Lawler