The Pandemic Has a Silver Lining...Really?
By AV Board member Julie Freestone
About seven years ago, my son’s holiday gift to me was an 8 ½ by 11 paper with twelve boxes, each containing the logo of a restaurant. The idea was that we’d have breakfast together, just he and I, each month before he went to work in San Francisco. Even though he lives within a few miles of me in Richmond, we didn’t see a lot of each other. So this was an amazing present. An exclusive bit of time for just the two of us without our partners. And every month, year in and year out, we met at 7:30 for our “date.”
The silver lining
Then came the pandemic and the closing of restaurants. We were headed for a dark time. Happily, we discovered we could substitute a walk in a nearby Richmond park before he started work from home. We didn’t have to find a place to park, argue about navigating or read menus. It’s been a pleasure.
The better to hear
And the pandemic has offered other silver linings. I have significant hearing loss and even though I diligently wear my hearing aids, they don’t, as I tell my husband, give me bionic ears. So meetings—like the Ashby Village monthly Board of Directors meeting—were challenging. I joined the Board in January 2020. It was cold in the room where we met. The heater made lots of noise. I missed some important things during discussions. When the lockdown came and the Board began to meet on Zoom, I could adjust the sound to suit myself. With our new computer speakers, everything sounded better.
And speaking of Zoom, who expected to do yoga virtually? It’s another pandemic plus. No hunt for parking, no getting to class early to get the perfect spot, no straining to hear the instructor.
Friends and family near and far
I do miss face-to-face meeting, hugs and restaurants. But thanks to Zoom, we’ve been able to celebrate all kinds of events during this past year with people who normally would never have been included in Rudi’s 75th birthday party, Passover, Thanksgiving etc.. They “came” from all over the country and other countries. The monthly family call we do include cousins we haven’t seen in decades.
And then there are the events Ashby Village offers. Presentations by top notch speakers like Troy Duster, Robert Reich and Fiona Ma. Concerts. Talks. I have to confess that I probably wouldn’t have gone to some of them. Too much trouble to drive to Berkeley from Richmond. Or some other excuse. Trapped in my house, my world has expanded.
Julie Freestone became an Ashby Village volunteer more than five years ago, then a member and in January 2020, a Board member. She is on the Board’s Communication Committee and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Working group. Before she retired, she was the Assistant to the Contra Costa Health Services Director and prior to that, a newspaper reporter. She and her husband, Rudi Raab, wrote the novel Stumbling Stone, based on their true life stories. Julie welcomes comments, suggestions and questions at freestonejulie@gmail.com