p.s. from my niece

I asked one of my five adored nieces to “preview” my previous blogpost. She is dealing with some tough stuff and I wanted to make sure my trivial woes and whining wouldn’t feel offensive to someone dealing with a real problem. Here is her thoughtful response - that she gave me permission to share:

“Hi there - I have most definitely felt everything you said in your post. I feel like it is part of being in the middle. I feel like we have been in the middle for so long. At the beginning (of COVID), we were so positive and that we can do this, everything is gonna be fine but then the middle has dragged out for so long. It is so hard to be in the present and so ingrained in our society that the grass is always greener on the other side that it’s hard not to get hung up in that mindset. I think that you are so right with those self-care things. We have to cultivate that list of what helps each of us get out of the rut - especially when it’s because of things that we have no control over.

Sometimes we just have to be honest with how we’re feeling and then we can grow from it and we don’t have to be all put together all the time.

I was reminded of the lyrics from a country song I like -

Oh, baby, why don’t you just meet me in the middle? I’m losing my mind just a little. So why don’t you just meet me in the middle.”

Isn’t that awesome? I love her idea of “meeting in the middle.” We went to a friend’s restaurant last night and she sat with us for a minute and was talking of the patrons in front of us, in the socially distanced line, coming in the door. They did not have a reservation. The only one we could get was at 5:45! They saw the bar looked pretty empty and asked to sit there. She told them those empty seats were the necessary barrier between patrons. They were mad and not very nice. Our friend, the owner, was frustrated. Didn’t people see they were working their tails off, trying to get the heaters to work, trying to keep everyone safe from COVID with masks and extra cleaning and being super precautious in the kitchen?? She is a writer on the side and I asked about her new book. She said, “I only have two hours on Sunday for downtime so it’s not really happening right now.” Two HOURS a week to take a break?!

Everyone is just trying to ride this thing out and simply survive (especially in the restaurant business). But everyone is on edge. What if those patrons had met in the middle and said, “…we totally get it. We appreciate that you are still open and trying to keep people safe. Do you have a reservation available for another night?”

We are in this together. We are one community. A smile here, an understanding nod there will make a difference. The end is in sight.

I’m going to try to be the one to suggest meeting in the middle. How about you?