Feb 26th My mother and I stood in line at the Aqueduct Raceway in Queens, New York, holding our vaccine registration forms on a clear but cold early Friday morning. We followed the directions of the army men and women, in uniform, who kindly directed us to the lines we needed to stand in. Everything was very organized and efficient. The vaccine itself was a quick pinch. We waited together in seats near a large window- the waiting time after a vaccine is 15 minutes to make sure you don't have a reaction. My husband was outside- he had taken time off from work to drive us. It's hard to sum up my gratitude for all of it- for the good fortune to be able to get an appointment time for my mother and I to go together, for my husband for driving us, for the scientists who developed the vaccine, for the nurses giving the shot, for the military there to support the efforts. It takes a village to vaccinate a country. I am appreciative of every person who made it possible for my mother and I to get our first dose of the vaccine. **** Later the same day, I stand in the hallway of my school. The children have all gone, but the teaches are lining the hallway- socially distant and wearing our masks- to have a "walk-by" baby shower for our music teacher who will have a son in March. Her husband has arrived, carrying flowers. There is a table set up with packaged snacks and baby boy decorations. When the teacher walks down the hall, as the song "Baby Love" plays, tears spring to her eyes as she realizes what is happening. They seat her in a rolling chair and her husband pushes her down the hallway where teachers hand her presents. When she gets back to where I am standing, she is covered in gifts. It is a joyful moment. We have not been together as a faculty to celebrate something joyful in such a long time. I work in a building where everyone comes together always- in good times and especially bad. Envelopes are passed around, money is collected, cards are sent, food is prepared- people just go the extra mile to show kindness to each other. It is a remarkable building- without competitiveness or pettiness. The baby shower felt like another gift on Friday- a chance to celebrate a new beginning, a chance to be together in community. A gift I never fully appreciated until community was taken away for so long, beginning last March. *** And so here we are, at March 1, ready for a month of blogging. A month of writing, sharing, commenting, reading, examining, collecting. The posts from March are a gift to me now- a chance to remember what life was like for me at that moment in time. It's hard to give yourself the gift of time to take on a challenge like this, but it is so valuable. It is a gift to yourself and to your future self too. Wishing everyone a month of unexpected gifts and a March much better than the last!
11 Comments
Sally Donnelly
3/1/2021 03:20:47 am
Your SOL is my first to read and leave a comment to and it had me in tears because it is filled with moments of love. Your gratitude list at the beginning is so complete - so many involved to allow us to be vaccinated. Your added details of the baby shower - the husband arriving with flowers and the name of the song playing amde me feel like I was there. That story sums up the feeling I also feel strongly - a realization of the community time lost due to Covid. So glad it is March and so glad I read your Slice first. I'm ready!! But I do think I'm going to need to box of kleenex!
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Dana Kramaroff
3/1/2021 03:24:17 am
Oh Kathleen! What a beautiful post! It is so nice to be back slicing with you! Seems like forever ago that we met and had the Voxer group! I look forward to reading your slices! YOU are a GIFT!!
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Erika Victor
3/1/2021 03:47:38 am
It is like a reunion to be back here again. I am so glad you got your first shot and are back with your school community (as long as you feel safe). What a year it has been and what a March it will be. Thank you for painting such vivid pictures with your words.
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Orval Jewett
3/1/2021 03:53:54 am
Yours is the first blog post I am responding to, and I'm glad for it. Reading through your post makes me think about what it might be like for me when I got for my first vaccine shot. Under normal circumstances, it would just be an October trip to the local Rite Aide pharmacy for the annual flu shot. This year, it'll be something different. I hope it will be as memorable for me as it was for you. In terms of your writing, it was almost as if I were there with you, standing in line observing the people, the times and the gravity of this momentous time. Thank you for sharing this memory with us.
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3/1/2021 04:40:17 am
I’m so glad to be back in this community reading your writing again! This is such a beautiful reflection of where we are right now—everything is different, but hopeful. I love the rolling baby shower and how you captured the joy and emotion of these moments.
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Brian Rozinsky
3/1/2021 05:36:51 am
This is like *two* slices, two marvelous snapshots of communal moments as the pandemic (fingers-crossed) eases its grip. Thanks for sharing these little lifts in writing. And, if you need permission, to spread out your slices singly as this month continues, rather than bundle multiple ones together, consider that permission granted!
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3/1/2021 06:10:37 am
Oh Kathleen - happy tears streaming - you hit so many emotions in this post. It is hard to believe it has been a year since we have all been together. I completely agree about this month - these are the posts I go back to, that mark my life, that bring me sorrow and joy. With two broken arms I know I shouldn't do it - but it is a gift. You are making it difficult for me not to give it a go!
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Jill Bless
3/1/2021 10:12:41 am
This line resonates with me: It's hard to give yourself the gift of time to take on a challenge like this, but it is so valuable. It is a gift to yourself and to your future self too.
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3/1/2021 04:09:55 pm
I’m so thrilled you and your mom were able to get the vaccine. I love this: “It takes a village to vaccinate a country.” My husband got his first dose last Friday. I went w/ him, but I’m not eligible yet. One of my former students was administering shots and said, “Glenda, I’ll give you your shot. Just ask for Sadie.” I Welker up thinking about the care this young woman is giving our community and offering me. What a role reversal. What a world. And that baby shower is a splendid idea.
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Eva Kaplan
3/1/2021 05:27:48 pm
It's so great that you and your mom got the vaccine together! What a great memory to always have.
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3/1/2021 06:24:47 pm
Oh, Kathy, leave it to you to remind us all about being grateful. I love that about you and your writing. It's so important to take time to be grateful. I'm so glad you went with your mom to be vaccinated (truly an amazing feat to have scheduled such) and the shower story warmed my heart. Wow, it's March.
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