Spring celebrations require creativity during social distancing

April 15, 2020 – I don’t know about you, but I missed my spring face-to-face religious services this year. I couldn’t attend any in person and the online ones seemed barren of the spirit that the former face-to-face ones had exuded. I missed the communal responses of sound, smell and touch.

The secular telemeetings provided sounds, but not those of religious services. Social media provided past events with sound and sight, but they couldn’t satisfy my desire for surprise that ongoing creativity provides. I finally realized that I would have to provide my own thought-provoking sensory activities.

I participated more on the telemeetings, sharing my experience, strength and hope. I read more – self-help, fiction and other nonfiction. I focused more on TV series.

Then I turned to festive gifts for my grandchildren and great grand, deciding on Phyter bars. I checked on their preferences, ordered the bars in advance and packed them, tracking their deliveries.

As the final celebration approached, I searched my recipes and browsed for more on the internet. Eventually, I planned an all vegetarian festive meal with recipes I’d never before tested. Enmasked, I rushed to the stores to gather the ingredients, despite the hoarders and social distancing lines.

Then my older daughter reminded me that Easter was still two weeks away. To avoid spoilage I began preparing, cooking and freezing, one item at a time. By the end of the two weeks, I had time to observe religious services on TV and online. So I had satisfied my sensory needs, but with whom would I share them?

I invited two relatives. One wasn’t sure he had to return overseas; the other had memory problems. I began to act as if all would be all right. I went over common areas at home with alcohol-filled cloths. I vacuumed, mopped and washed many dishes while listening to music. Still I heard nothing from the invitees.

Finally, the day before the big event, I called. While the response was still noncommittal, at least I knew no one would be traveling overseas. I thawed out the cooked fare, cooled the juice and continued to act as if. That night I turned both the outcome and the outfit I’d wear over to my Higher Power and slept well.

The next morning I awoke in time for a festive breakfast while watching Sunday Morning and parts of Face the Nation. After conversing with out-of-town relatives and reading a little, I selected an outfit, got out the serving dishes, filled them and placed them in the oven.

I chose fancy dishes for myself and dressed for the festive occasion. Then I turned on the TV, planning to wait 15 minutes for my solitary dinner.

Ten minutes later the two relatives arrived. I greeted them and put more fancy dishes on the table for them . My original plan had been that we’d all eat in the living room, practicing social distancing; however, the guest with memory problems wanted to eat at the table. So two of us sat at different ends of the table and the third ate in the living room, talking and helping ourselves to seconds. None had room for dessert while we enjoyed a Netflix movie. Before my guests left, they gathered their favorite leftovers in Ziploc bags.

I finished my day with 60 Minutes and God Friended Me before calling more out-of-town relatives, attending a telemeeting and going to bed. Again I slept well.

How did you manage your spring celebration within Center for Disease Control guidelines?