Weekend Edition: Fighting Back. And Thanks.

Dear friends ~

As we finish out this first week, I want to thank you all for being on this journey with me. Thank you for your kind e-mails and the lovely photos, poems, prayers, and inspirational messages you’ve forwarded to me. “We’re all in this together” has been my mantra for the last several years, and wow, are we ever seeing just how true that is! I am grateful to be “in this together” with you.

The daily e-mails are a gift to myself (a tether to sanity!) as well as my small effort to fight back against despair; I’ve been happy to hear that they are bringing enjoyment or help to some of you. But I now see that I need a periodic break from the effort. I need to spend less time at my computer, at least on the weekends. So I will still do the usual sorts of messages during the week, but something much more brief on the weekends. For today, I will share with you a photograph of some sidewalk art that Carl and I saw on our walk yesterday and some news that I have read. Here’s the art project, which seems to me another way to fight back:


(Yes, we actually were standing too close together. But we don’t get that close to anyone else.)

The news is this: in Spain, every night at 10:00 p.m., the people throw open their windows, step onto their balcony or lean over the sill, and clap for the brave medical providers who have cared for them for another day. Reading that took my breath away for so many reasons. We may not live in a dense urban area where we can be heard in the same way. But aren’t we all applauding the medical community? Let’s look for ways to support our healthcare workers and to tell them how deeply grateful we are for their skill and their sacrifices. Spain Thanks the Front Line

Until tomorrow, stay healthy. Be kind, spread love, and take heart.

Love from Nancie/Mom/Mimi/Grandma

PS, Following up on an earlier message, here’s another way to find easy access to museums (including the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History), concerts, plays, and more: Arts Access

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