We Have Each Other!

 

Extended isolation is killing us, physically and emotionally. Suicides, drug overdoses, and untended health problems are deadly outcomes during this virus pandemic. But I’m here with positive news and a way for us to remind each other that we are in this together. Rather than dwell on what we can’t do, I’m choosing to focus on what we can do.

I’ve finally realized that the most important thing for me to do is to reduce my isolation! It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure that out. Here are some of the steps I’m going to take:

  1. Connect with one friend per day. That means I will make a phone call or send a personal note. Now I dislike talking on the phone, but if I keep it to a few minutes, it will be worth it. Hearing the other person’s voice, finding something to laugh at (I usually make an easy victim), or telling a story will lighten my load. Since I know others are busy, I will first ask if they have a couple of minutes, and then say I won’t be long. I could call people all over the country that I haven’t talked to in ages. It would be fun to catch up, and share our lives. I’m feeling better just talking about it!
  2. I will send an email just to say I’m thinking of that person. Remind him or her of a memory we shared or a joke I’ve heard. (Well, maybe not a joke because I’m terrible at punch lines.) I would make a point to only include funny, light, or heartfelt comments. It shouldn’t be a long email, but just a way to make a sweet connection.
  3. Before the virus, I was in the process of organizing a Jewish group. It was called Teshuvah, and after our first meeting, the virus hit. I’ve only rarely been in touch since we can’t get together. We were going to meet with an agenda to become better acquainted with the Jewish holidays. Instead, for each holiday I will send out a blurb, maybe call it, “Did You Know,” with something unlikely to be known about the holiday, maybe include a quote from a well-known Jewish teacher. It will keep the connections going and maybe add a few new people. I could do this every couple of weeks.

But I realize that I also have relationships with like-minded Conservative people all over the country! I have all of you, my Ricochet friends! I would like to think of these relationships as a Web of Friendship, may be present in every state of the Union. I will want to know that I have engaged, sustained, and continually supported all of you, even after the election, no matter what happens. So here’s my proposal:

I’d love to hear where everyone lives! You only need to share your state and include a word of support for every Ricochetti. No cost, no obligation.

I’ll start it out: I live in Central Florida, and my message to all of you is that I have your back no matter what the election outcome is. We’re in this together!

Does anyone else want to chime in?

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  1. John Park Member
    John Park
    @jpark

    I live in Gainesville, GA, although we’re on our way (time not set) to Black Mountain, NC. And, I have the backs of all my fellow Ricochet members.

    • #1
  2. John Park Member
    John Park
    @jpark

    And, work on your Teshuvah!

    • #2
  3. Percival Thatcher
    Percival
    @Percival

    I’m moving at the end of the week back to the Peoples Republic of Illinois.

    • #3
  4. Susan Quinn Contributor
    Susan Quinn
    @SusanQuinn

    John Park (View Comment):

    And, work on your Teshuvah!

    Thanks, @johnpark! It’s long overdue!

    • #4
  5. Susan Quinn Contributor
    Susan Quinn
    @SusanQuinn

    Percival (View Comment):

    I’m moving at the end of the week back to the Peoples Republic of Illinois.

    Oh, gee, good luck with that. New job?

    • #5
  6. Susan Quinn Contributor
    Susan Quinn
    @SusanQuinn

    Actually, I realize I know where a lot of you live! Heh, heh. But not everyone else does, so to form the Web in our minds, that’ll be helpful. Maybe I’ll do a stick-pin map and send it to all of you afterward.

    • #6
  7. Percival Thatcher
    Percival
    @Percival

    Susan Quinn (View Comment):

    Percival (View Comment):

    I’m moving at the end of the week back to the Peoples Republic of Illinois.

    Oh, gee, good luck with that. New job?

    Not yet.

    • #7
  8. Maguffin Inactive
    Maguffin
    @Maguffin

    Overland Park, Kansas -Kansas City metro.

    • #8
  9. J Climacus Member
    J Climacus
    @JClimacus

    Up here in Massachusetts. Keep the faith everyone, whatever your faith may be.

    Based on the picture, I was hoping alcohol would be involved in this initiative some how?

    • #9
  10. RushBabe49 Thatcher
    RushBabe49
    @RushBabe49

    Follow my blog at RushBabe49.com. Comment on my posts to start a conversation. I think I will post Yad Vashem stories of Jews from the Holocaust from time to time.  My latest post is a “photo challenge” that might interest you. 
    I am already in conversation with friends from my old job. You can register by scrolling down on the left sidebar for the link. 

    • #10
  11. Susan Quinn Contributor
    Susan Quinn
    @SusanQuinn

    J Climacus (View Comment):
    Based on the picture, I was hoping alcohol would be involved in this initiative some how?

    Works for me, @jclimacus! Although I’m a cheap drunk–one glass and I’m done!

    • #11
  12. Kephalithos Member
    Kephalithos
    @Kephalithos

    [Edited. Not the place for whining.

    Note to self: Finish reading posts before commenting.]

    • #12
  13. Susan Quinn Contributor
    Susan Quinn
    @SusanQuinn

    Kephalithos (View Comment):

    ??

    • #13
  14. Kephalithos Member
    Kephalithos
    @Kephalithos

    Susan Quinn (View Comment):

    Kephalithos (View Comment):

    ??

    Crushing morosity (as JPod would say).

    • #14
  15. SkipSul Inactive
    SkipSul
    @skipsul

    Central Ohio.  

    Life goes on, and whatever the setbacks of the hour, GD has the final say and wins in the end.

    • #15
  16. Susan Quinn Contributor
    Susan Quinn
    @SusanQuinn

    Kephalithos (View Comment):

    Susan Quinn (View Comment):

    Kephalithos (View Comment):

    ??

    Crushing morosity (as JPod would say).

    Ah, c’mon, @christopherriley. Won’t you let us help? You’re too young to let this stuff get to you. And too many of us will be concerned if you do!

    • #16
  17. Susan Quinn Contributor
    Susan Quinn
    @SusanQuinn

    SkipSul (View Comment):

    Central Ohio.

    Life goes on, and whatever the setbacks of the hour, GD has the final say and wins in the end.

    Works for me, @skipsul!

    • #17
  18. Kephalithos Member
    Kephalithos
    @Kephalithos

    Susan Quinn (View Comment):

    Kephalithos (View Comment):

    Susan Quinn (View Comment):

    Kephalithos (View Comment):

    ??

    Crushing morosity (as JPod would say).

    Ah, c’mon, @christopherriley. Won’t you let us help? You’re too young to let this stuff get to you. And too many of us will be concerned if you do!

    It’s getting to me because I’m young.

    We all have a narrow window of opportunity to build a life for ourselves. COVID, economic collapse, civil war, atomized modern society — all these things slam that window shut. Not what I bargained for!

    • #18
  19. SkipSul Inactive
    SkipSul
    @skipsul

    Kephalithos (View Comment):

    Susan Quinn (View Comment):

    Kephalithos (View Comment):

    Susan Quinn (View Comment):

    Kephalithos (View Comment):

    ??

    Crushing morosity (as JPod would say).

    Ah, c’mon, @christopherriley. Won’t you let us help? You’re too young to let this stuff get to you. And too many of us will be concerned if you do!

    It’s getting to me because I’m young.

    We all have a narrow window of opportunity to build a life for ourselves. COVID, economic collapse, civil war, atomized modern society — all these things slam that window shut. Not what I bargained for!

    • #19
  20. Susan Quinn Contributor
    Susan Quinn
    @SusanQuinn

    Kephalithos (View Comment):

    Susan Quinn (View Comment):

    Kephalithos (View Comment):

    Susan Quinn (View Comment):

    Kephalithos (View Comment):

    ??

    Crushing morosity (as JPod would say).

    Ah, c’mon, @christopherriley. Won’t you let us help? You’re too young to let this stuff get to you. And too many of us will be concerned if you do!

    It’s getting to me because I’m young.

    We all have a narrow window of opportunity to build a life for ourselves. COVID, economic collapse, civil war, atomized modern society — all these things slam that window shut. Not what I bargained for!

    It has to be incredibly frustrating!! I can’t imagine feeling I’m on the precipice and ready to soar–and then a long-term blizzard locks me in. It reminds me of the time I finally had the courage to leave Zen Buddhism. Door after door kept slamming shut, one after another, and I finally gave up. It wasn’t the place I was supposed to be. And then the door to Judaism cracked open–and then burst wide open. And the rest is history.

    You are a very talented fellow. Just be sure to keep your eyes open through your morosity. 

    • #20
  21. Maguffin Inactive
    Maguffin
    @Maguffin

    Kephalithos (View Comment):

    Susan Quinn (View Comment):

    Kephalithos (View Comment):

    Susan Quinn (View Comment):

    Kephalithos (View Comment):

    ??

    Crushing morosity (as JPod would say).

    Ah, c’mon, @christopherriley. Won’t you let us help? You’re too young to let this stuff get to you. And too many of us will be concerned if you do!

    It’s getting to me because I’m young.

    We all have a narrow window of opportunity to build a life for ourselves. COVID, economic collapse, civil war, atomized modern society — all these things slam that window shut. Not what I bargained for!

    Well, keep the faith.  My dad lost everything – his chosen profession, all of his land, and his savings – in his 40s.  Yet now he’s happily retired and doing well financially.

    I flunked out of school, was in my mid 30s making mid 30s (and in tech!) but now make almost $100,000 a year in my mid 40s.

    Think of all the people who went through World War II and had to completely rebuild after.

    Or the people who came to America in boats from Cuba.  Or Vietnam.  

    So things can look really dark, and having pessimism as my vocation I can really understand that view, but if we give up that’s the way it will stay.  It’s only by continuing to push forward as best we can that the light can dawn again and those windows reopen.

    • #21
  22. MWD B612 "Dawg" Member
    MWD B612 "Dawg"
    @danok1

    Susan Quinn: I’d love to hear where everyone lives! You only need to share your state and include a word of support for every Ricochetee. No cost, no obligation.

    Nice try, Fed! (I kid!)

    I live in the Piedmont of North Carolina, close to the border with South Carolina.

    • #22
  23. RushBabe49 Thatcher
    RushBabe49
    @RushBabe49

    Kephalithos (View Comment):

    Susan Quinn (View Comment):

    Kephalithos (View Comment):

    Susan Quinn (View Comment):

    Kephalithos (View Comment):

    ??

    Crushing morosity (as JPod would say).

    Ah, c’mon, @christopherriley. Won’t you let us help? You’re too young to let this stuff get to you. And too many of us will be concerned if you do!

    It’s getting to me because I’m young.

    We all have a narrow window of opportunity to build a life for ourselves. COVID, economic collapse, civil war, atomized modern society — all these things slam that window shut. Not what I bargained for!

    Go find a teaching job at Classical charter school through your alma mater. They are desperate for teachers.

    • #23
  24. She Member
    She
    @She

    I live in Southwest PA, about eight miles west of the town known to the locals as “Little Worshington.”  (Known that way so that no-one mistakes it for the national capital.)  In fact, Byron York wrote about exactly where I live, just the other day, in the Worshington (the big one) Examiner, in his piece The Big Trump Rallies You Don’t See.  He’s talking about an area of the country, and its people, and my neighbors, that I love.

    Claysville (the closest little town to me) was known as “Little Richmond” during the Civil War for its support of the Confederacy. (Richmond, VA was the Confederate capital for most of the war.)  West Alexander, a few miles down the National Road (Rte 40) was a stop on the Underground Railroad.  Those old divisions still cut deep around here.  But today, we’re all frackers, and the paucity of Biden/Harris signs is notable.  TRUMP! signs are everywhere (one place, about a mile and a half from me, has about 20 facing the road).  Many houses are adorned with huge banners and flags.  And Saturday, I saw something I’d never seen before–one of those light show things people use to put Christmas images on their homes, except it was an image of Trump.

    I’ll have been on Ricochet for an entire decade of my life on December 10 of this year.  My membership here has been one of the most rewarding endeavors of my life.  As with everything, there are moments of my Ricochet experience on which, as Queen Elizabeth said about her annus horribilis in 1997, “I shall not look back with undiluted pleasure” (bless!), but in the main, I love you all.

    As for my message, I wrote a post four years ago on which I think I can’t improve.  It was about the life and death of my stepson Michael, whose fifty-third birthday would have been on November 4, 2020.  November 4 was a few days before the 2016 election and will be the day after the 2020 election, and my 2016 post was part of the month’s group writing topic of “gratitude.”

    I ended it  with the letter Michael wrote to President Bush a couple of days after 9/11/2001:

    September 14, 2001

    Dear President Bush,

    This morning I got up and flipped on the TV to see the temperature. I also saw that you wanted us to sing “God Bless America” at one o’clock. It made me proud you wanted me to be a patriotic American. Songs like “God Bless America,” “America the Beautiful,” and “Stars and Stripes Forever” started playing in my head. (Note: Heaven only knows what this must have sounded like. In later years, Mike was a much-loved minor celebrity at local karaoke bar, for his terribly off-key, but really enthusiastic, renditions of songs like “You are My Sunshine” and “God Bless America.”)

    I went for the usual morning walk with my neighbor’s dog, Penny, at 7:15AM. When we went past the elementary school, I put my hand over my heart and said the Pledge of Allegiance. We went home. I fed my cats, Larry and Cece, then I flue (sic) to work.

    I work at a supermarket in customer service. Still at work songs kept occupying my mind. Then a song from “Little Orphan Annie” came on.

    A few months ago I was privileged to go to a high school musical of that show. It was a huge success!

    I see in my head Little Orphan Annie singing to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. She’s singing:

    tomorrow4

    May God bless you, and may God bless America.

    Sincerely,

    Mike Z

    and with the words

    That was Michael. Three days after 9/11, with much of the nation still reeling from shock, he was doing what he could to lift the spirits of, and comfort, the leader of the free world.

    I’m so grateful for Michael’s life. And for the lessons he taught me—lessons of persistence, grit, honor, humor, and faith. Particularly faith, not only in his God, but also in the sure knowledge that tomorrow will come, and with it, the sun. Michael had as much reason as anyone I’ve ever known to question, doubt, and lose, that faith. But he never did.

    For Michael, I’m keeping that faith too. On November 9, no matter who wins the election, no matter what happens in the Senate and the House, no matter how horrible the outcome, no matter how much I’d rather crawl back under the covers with a bottle of Knob Creek Rye for company, I’m going to get up, put the dogs out, feed the sheep (I’ve always understood this is particularly important), go about the daily business of life with a smile on my face, and do my best for my friends and family.

    Which, for better or worse, my eccentric, madcap, and far-flung Ricochetti, also includes you. I know some of you will be gone for a while. I understand. I hope you come back soon, and until you do, I’ll do my best to keep the seat warm. For those who say you won’t return, ever, I’m not going to try to change your minds, and I wish you the best, always.

    Between now and next Tuesday, be well.

    Because, stay or go; right or wrong; win, lose, or draw; whatever the future of Ricochet; I’m grateful for every single one of you.

    And I’ll be here. When the sun comes up.

    bunbun3

    Yes.  We have each other.  And that’s not nothing.

    • #24
  25. Jim McConnell Member
    Jim McConnell
    @JimMcConnell

    SkipSul (View Comment):

    Central Ohio.

    Life goes on, and whatever the setbacks of the hour, GD has the final say and wins in the end.

    True, but in times like this it’s hard to remember that. I need to keep reminding myself of that, instead of jumping in feet-first.

    • #25
  26. Flicker Coolidge
    Flicker
    @Flicker

    Kephalithos (View Comment):

    Susan Quinn (View Comment):

    Kephalithos (View Comment):

    Susan Quinn (View Comment):

    Kephalithos (View Comment):

    ??

    Crushing morosity (as JPod would say).

    Ah, c’mon, @christopherriley. Won’t you let us help? You’re too young to let this stuff get to you. And too many of us will be concerned if you do!

    It’s getting to me because I’m young.

    We all have a narrow window of opportunity to build a life for ourselves. COVID, economic collapse, civil war, atomized modern society — all these things slam that window shut. Not what I bargained for!

    Would you rather have been born into ancient Babylon or an Ice Age?  Europe in 1315?  You will handle this well.

    • #26
  27. RushBabe49 Thatcher
    RushBabe49
    @RushBabe49

    Get together a mini- meetup with Ricochetti in your area. I will be doing a post in the Pacific Northwest Ricochetti group, and on the Meetup thread when I get home from work. Everyone is also invited to our chili party on December 5. 

    • #27
  28. Susan Quinn Contributor
    Susan Quinn
    @SusanQuinn

    She (View Comment):
    Yes. We have each other. And that’s not nothing.

    Indeed. Thank you, She for your beautiful contribution. 

    • #28
  29. Kephalithos Member
    Kephalithos
    @Kephalithos

    Flicker (View Comment):

    Kephalithos (View Comment):

    Susan Quinn (View Comment):

    Kephalithos (View Comment):

    Susan Quinn (View Comment):

    Kephalithos (View Comment):

    ??

    Crushing morosity (as JPod would say).

    Ah, c’mon, @christopherriley. Won’t you let us help? You’re too young to let this stuff get to you. And too many of us will be concerned if you do!

    It’s getting to me because I’m young.

    We all have a narrow window of opportunity to build a life for ourselves. COVID, economic collapse, civil war, atomized modern society — all these things slam that window shut. Not what I bargained for!

    Would you rather have been born into ancient Babylon or an Ice Age? Europe in 1315? You will handle this well.

    I’m an unnatural (to borrow a term from the great, erstwhile Midget Faded Rattlesnake), so, in Babylon or Ice-Age Europe, it’s likely that I wouldn’t have been born at all.

    • #29
  30. Kephalithos Member
    Kephalithos
    @Kephalithos

    She (View Comment): I live in Southwest PA, about eight miles west of the town known to the locals as “Little Worshington.” (Known that way so that no-one mistakes it for the national capital.) In fact, Byron York wrote about exactly where I live, just the other day, in the Worshington (the big one) Examiner, in his piece The Big Trump Rallies You Don’t See. He’s talking about an area of the country, and its people, and my neighbors, that I love.

    Ah, Washington County! The most Scots-Irish place in the country.

    • #30
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