#AloneTogether
#AloneTogether
Joanne Campagna — April 13, 2020
As we embark on a new month of this new normal, alone together, it truly has been a time to reflect.
For me, personally, I have celebrated a Birthday and now Easter, alone but together, with my sister and friends on social media platforms. I have joined other small businesses with jobs placed on pause (two (2) and counting so far), collaborated with business professionals on several Skype and Zoom Meetings, and I have participated in Zoom Happy Hours. And, most of all, I have seen so many home interiors I have taken notice of some that I might like to copy in my own house! Like most people, I have watched television, read news articles, and tried to apply my own deductive analysis techniques to truly understand the magnitude of what has happened, is happening, and what will ultimately happen.
What I miss most is our new office. I have now paid four (4) months of rent for space I could not use. The first two (2) months of our lease I was still at my career job as I did not officially early retire until November. And the last two (2) months currently, we have not been able to use the space, given the State Stay in Place edict. I miss the community at our building, which includes laughter, intellectual dialogue, and social gossip. To boot, a few of our professional vendors we use just leased space down the hall from us. I wonder when we will ever be able to take advantage of that, sadly. It is an entire community experience that has been ripped from us, just like many office workers, not only across the country, but across the globe. For the first time, this global crisis has united an entire world which essentially has come to a halt, hard to fathom that concept.
For each of us, no matter where we call home, we likely know someone or know of someone who has been personally impacted by Covid-19. And, clearly, certain areas are more hotspots than others. Between just my sister and myself, we have seen families, spouses, parents, siblings, of our friends die around the country. Some as young as their 20’s. It’s been devastating to see the announcements on Facebook and we cannot even send them flowers to help ease the pain their souls are in at this troubled time. If you have lived in bigger cities, if you have traveled extensively, you understand the calamity caused by this Virus. Be thankful if you have not had personal experience as it is not pleasant.
A sibling of a close friend was in the ER for four (4) days in Buffalo fighting against it and a Barbet (French Water Dog) friend Downstate has been experiencing lives lost first hand on the front lines. The mobile morgues, the silence of The City, she has shared much of that with me as she goes to fight another battle each day in the hospital she works at in New York City. It is truly a War, one like no other.
If you do go out, make sure to thank the grocery store workers, the workers at Target or Home Depot, your Mailperson, and, of course, the heroes in the medical space. They all are heroes as most of us hide inside our homes, alone together, watching them put themselves at risk every day. As I said on my social media platforms, when I posted the photo of my dogs and their friends used in this Blog, they were being guided by their own “Christopher Robin” and we, each, need to stop and think about who our Christopher Robins are in our daily life, and stop and thank them. We are in this Alone but Together and it’s that Together piece that we cannot forget. I know I look forward to the time we are simply just #Together.
Stay well friends. For now, #AloneTogether.
