Reporter shares stories of positivity during pandemic

Dear Annie: I work at a newspaper in Findlay, Ohio. Over the past four weeks, I have been writing “positive” stories about how people are responding.

I wrote about a man who owns a local coffee shop. He wanted to do something for children who would not be getting a meal at school, so he began providing Lunches of Love for anyone who might need it.

I wrote about a woman who celebrated her 100th birthday. Her family couldn’t have a party for her. Instead, they organized a drive-by birthday parade. She was delighted! There was also a story about a 9-year-old girl who decided to take her at-home art class to the front window of her house, where she painted a “happy Easter” message for all of the neighbors to see, complete with a bunny, cross and Easter egg.

And then there was the story about the man who was furloughed from his job at a distribution center. He and his girlfriend, who are also musicians, decided to livestream concerts on Saturday nights, sending tips to area food banks.

There have been so many stories about the good things that I am having trouble keeping up with them all! I just wanted everyone to know that every cloud does have a silver lining.

Reporter From Findlay

Dear Reporter From Findlay: Thank you for these wonderful stories of love and warmth. We may be quarantined, but the human spirit of giving and kindness cannot be detained. Great reporting! Dear Annie: My story is about the “rainbows” we are seeing because our church members are forced to worship via videoconferences. Our usual 8:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m. Sunday services are now combined into one 9:00 a.m. service held online. Despite the difficulties of worshiping this way, some positives have emerged. Our 8 o’clockers and 10 o’clockers are connecting in ways that never happened before, as our rector includes chat time both before and after the service.

One 8:00 a.m. service couple realized how few people they knew from the 10 o’clock service, and they realized they were probably not the only ones. This gave them the idea of creating an updated pictorial directory — a big job, but they offered to oversee it.

Silver Linings

Dear Silver Linings: How wonderful that strangers of the same church are now becoming friends. It is an opportunity for them to connect and share with one another outside of worship times as well. Sounds like you have a wise rector, too.

Dear Annie: We have a story that is helping us get through this isolation because of COVID-19.

We have moved our largescreen Mac computer into our dining room. There are thousands of photos on it, going back probably 25 years, and we have various external hard drives full of more photos.

So every evening, we sit whilst dinner is cooking and scroll through these pictures. And when we find one we want to tell a story about, we keep it on the screen and have a good laugh, or say whatever memory that particular photo brings to us. We also order books online or get electronic downloads from our local libraries. Also remember that we can get on the phone or email with family and friends a lot more than we do in virusless times.

Photos Tell a Story

Dear Photos Tell a Story: Your suggestion is a lovely way to relive memories.