I was going to call this post, "Surviving COVID", but then I realized that I did more than just survive.
I thrived!
Here are some of the ways:
Handiwork has helped me thrive!
In April a friend contacted me and asked if I would be willing to do some crocheting of hats and scarves to be donated to homeless shelters in the Fall. Crocheting was the perfect thing for me at the time as it kept my mind off of worrying, and I felt like I was accomplishing something even when I was just watching shows. It was fun and I made quite a few.
I made some hats with double yarn on looms:
Some of my favorite crocheted hats:
Some of my favorite scarves:
I enjoyed trying to make some scarves the "long way" which I had never tried before.
Here's another one of my favorites:
Exercise has helped me thrive!
This started out as trying to walk 70 miles before I turned 70. I made it and just kept going. I have another chart in progress.
Indexing has helped me thrive!
I've tried to index some names almost every single day since the middle of March. One of my favorites has been these records from the Finger Lakes area of New York. Every once in a while I would see a deed for Palmrya in the early 1800's and it always reminded me of our Restoration celebration this year. I feel humbled that I have had the time to index over 7.000 records during the pandemic.
Family has helped me thrive!
The family Zoom meetings, texts and phone/video conversations have been numerous and helpful. Thank you!
I need to give a special shout out to my sister, Kathy, who has stayed connected over Marco Polo on a very regular basis during all of this. We have had great time keeping in touch, sharing about our families and keeping each other positive and spiritually uplifted.
Friends have helped me thrive!
After sheltering at home for months, outdoor social distancing was introduced. We decided it would be fun to connect with a variety of friends who we had not seen for all those months. In the past 3 months we have invited a couple at a time to join us through our gate to the backyard for some visiting.
We sat on the patio with the proper distance.
To make it easy we always served the same treat: Meyer's Lemon sherbet with a lemon baton cookie. It was light and refreshing.
In every case the couples expressed over and over how much they enjoyed the chance to talk to other people in person. It was enriching for us to find out about their lives and whatever was on their mind. It felt like a type of ministering.
Gospel study has helped me thrive!
Because I now had some extra time with the temple closed, I decided I wanted to learn more about the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I think the favorite thing I did to thrive was to study and take extensive notes on these two books one after the other. I just read a little each day and let it soak in, so it took me months to read them but it was an amazing experience!
