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I am in a women's bladder cancer support group that has dwindled down from about 20 members to only 5 over the past few years. Four of us are retired. It's an informal group that meets monthly at a restaurant but for someone newly diagnosed and needing regular folks to talk to who have been through it... we provide reading materials, and are available for Q&A, phone and face-to-face support, and even show & tell to any females in the community suffering from the same diagnosis. Anyhow, when the pandemic hit, I was afraid that it was going to do our little group in for good. There are no other groups around like ours and we feel we have something to offer so we work hard to keep ours together even though it's small right now. We managed to meet twice last summer by having a Bring Your Own Lunch and eating outside at a park where we could be socially distanced. We've kept in touch during the past year by emailing each other updates on how we're doing.
Since everybody in the group is fully vaccinated now and the weather is getting warmer, we decided we could finally have our first lunch together at a restaurant. The restaurant we go to has a covered patio, an outdoor seating area and the indoor tables are all socially distanced so we felt really safe in going there. Plus they have really good food. We had lunch there this past Wednesday and it was great to see each other without masks, laugh, and catch up in person. When we'd finished and got up from the table to leave, we all hugged each other and I don't think I'm a touchy-feely person either... but that felt so good to be able to do embrace in friendship. For us, it was a bit therapeutic too because a 6th member's cancer metastasized last fall and she passed away a couple of months ago. Because of the pandemic, we couldn't see her when she was ill or go to her funeral.
I don't mind sacrificing and doing what's necessary (even if it's hard or unpleasant) if in the long-run it's for my own good, or it's for the greater good. We've become such a soft, stupid, and selfish people that God help us if something bigger and worse than Covid-19 comes along (and I believe it's a matter of when, not if).
Since everybody in the group is fully vaccinated now and the weather is getting warmer, we decided we could finally have our first lunch together at a restaurant. The restaurant we go to has a covered patio, an outdoor seating area and the indoor tables are all socially distanced so we felt really safe in going there. Plus they have really good food. We had lunch there this past Wednesday and it was great to see each other without masks, laugh, and catch up in person. When we'd finished and got up from the table to leave, we all hugged each other and I don't think I'm a touchy-feely person either... but that felt so good to be able to do embrace in friendship. For us, it was a bit therapeutic too because a 6th member's cancer metastasized last fall and she passed away a couple of months ago. Because of the pandemic, we couldn't see her when she was ill or go to her funeral.
I don't mind sacrificing and doing what's necessary (even if it's hard or unpleasant) if in the long-run it's for my own good, or it's for the greater good. We've become such a soft, stupid, and selfish people that God help us if something bigger and worse than Covid-19 comes along (and I believe it's a matter of when, not if).
