Wednesday, March 11 At a staff/resident meeting to plan activities, we learned: No piano concert by outsider Don Irwin. Ouch! No pottery class with outside teacher. Ouch! No chair yoga class with outside leader. Ouch! No out-of-town guests. Thursday, March 12 It felt like we were in the first days of a war, the way I felt when I watched the bombing of Baghdad on CNN. For the first time in my life, I felt I was a member of a group (in this case, the elderly) being singled out for special protection. Should I go out today to the grocery store? Should I go to church Sunday? That evening, our Readers Theater was performing for our residents. We’d been rehearsing since early January. But midafternoon we learned there could be no guests, even family. So now my son’s family couldn’t see it nor the cast’s families. The performance went well with an audience of eighty residents. For me as director, if the cast enjoyed the experience and the audience enjoyed the experience, the play was ipso facto a success. Friday, March 13 Laundry, then physical therapy, then yoga led by a resident member of the class in the absence of our outside teacher. Then lunch, then grocery shopping. Among the empty shelves were those with milk. No one-percent. No two-percent. Only skim. Sunday. March 15 My UCC church service was cancelled. Fortunately, a retired Baptist minister led an afternoon service on site. Fortunate because on Monday, March 16 Activities were cancelled, first those with more than ten participants, and then all of them. Imagine, if our Readers Theater performance had been scheduled four days later, it too would have been cancelled. Later With nothing else to do, I entered the swimming pool for the first time ever—and the last; soon it too was closed, along with the fitness center, the hairdresser, and then the dining room. Carry-out service only. I used to dine with my son Scott and his family weekly at a restaurant. That too came to an end. But then, his wife Val arranged a Zoom meal together and included family in Maryland, Texas, New Mexico. Copyright 2020 Larry Turner
Bio:
Larry Turner is a poet from Midlothian, Virginia. His most recent book, The Speechless Speak: Animals and Objects Find Their Voices, is available from Amazon.
Donation Appeal:
Throughout June and July, we will be presenting on this web site work by poets and artists responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. We hope you will find these works relevant, comforting and inspiring as we all cope with the economic and health-related fallout.
As you view the work on this site each day, we would like to encourage you to donate to the Arlington Food Assistance Center (AFAC). Their mission “ is to feed our neighbors in need by providing dignified access to supplemental groceries. AFAC is seeing a record number of families due to the COVID-19 pandemic as families who never thought they would ever be in need are now showing up at our doors for much needed food.” And, in keeping with our hunger-focused efforts, you may also want to visit the Poetry X Hunger website where poems by many poets are posted and are being used by anti-hunger organizations.”
Throughout June and July, we will be presenting on this web site work by poets and artists responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. We hope you will find these works relevant, comforting and inspiring as we all cope with the economic and health-related fallout.
Please consider donating to AFAC. If you do, let us know which poet or artist inspired you so we can send you a personal thank you.
