One Small Step to Ease the Pain of COVID 19 Quarantine

Thank God we have video calling! And Thank God for FaceBook and other social media that allows us to stay connected even as we ‘social distance.’ I am taking advantage of video calling friends — checking in on their health status, chatting, and even dining, remotely, together with them. I video call all my family as much as possible. Video is the saving grace. Video calling is helping me keep my sanity. Like the old AT&T commercial (and now I am dating myself) ‘long distance is the next best thing to being there.’

This empirical evidence supports my initial thought of a way to help a community in need of visitors. Using video chat, I can interact with senior citizens bereft of family and friends. I am pleased to report, two nursing homes in my area are enthusiastic about my volunteer program too. Directors of two programs have received boxes of my books and passed them out to residents.

Joy!

Our next step is scheduling the video chats. I am not content to wait until the recipients have finished reading the book! I want to spark some of the residents’ interest in this book by an introductory talk and live reading the first few chapters. For readers already enthused I stand ready to fill in some background, share more historical trivia and answer any ‘questions to the author.’ I’ll keep you posted.

In the meantime – anyone else out there who is quarantined and wants a live chat – let me know! You can contact me by commenting on this blog, or on FaceBook or on my jfcollen website.

For me, this opportunity to volunteer remotely is a silver lining in this angst-filled time of pandemic.