A TIME SLICE OF APRIL 29
BY NATASHA C.
My freelance work had recently dried up, and the
direction of our entire future loomed before us.
I sat cross-legged on the living room floor, watching
our sleeping baby and frantically mulling over future
employment options as you clacked away at your paper
in the other room.
Should I contact my old colleagues in the US? Transition
to a new career? Give up and become a stay-at-home
parent?
A dizzying cloud of options swirled around in my head,
and the internet wasn’t giving me any answers. Thirty
minutes into my fruitless deliberation, I had entered a
sort of anxious flow-state which was interrupted by
a cry. I had picked up the baby and was holding her
tightly in my arms when you walked in.
“I got shortlisted for a position in Helsinki,” you said. I
sighed in relief and closed out about 25 tabs worth of
random job searches. For the moment, I began to think
about what this new future in Finland could be like.
Perhaps it won’t pan out, but if not, we will make it
work anyways. We always do.
CORONA UPDATE
BY JENNY M.
My nephew got wind that Germany was about to
close its borders, and I was convinced by my
family that it was time to fly home. I packed a suitcase
for a maximum stay of three weeks, which I thought
would give the coronavirus time to play itself out.
Now I‘m writing this in London, where the corona deaths
are the highest in Europe. It’s easy to cast blame, but
the good will which is being displayed goes some way
to lighten the gloom.
Have you heard of Captain Tom Moore (now Honorary
Colonel Tom Moore)? Captain Tom decided to walk
around his garden—with the aid of two walking sticks
—100 times, hoping to raise 1,000 pounds for Britain‘s
ailing National Health Service. His 100th birthday was
a week or two away when he started his walk, but to
date this wonderful old man has raised over 32 million
pounds and captured the hearts of the nation.
The British government asked retired doctors and
nurses to return as volunteers to hospitals, and they
returned in droves.
There has been a spontaneous movement throughout
the country to help needy people. Strangers are
shopping for frail people, and volunteers are donating
to food banks. And restaurants, which are closed here,
have asked their cooks to prepare meals with donated
food for those in need. Homeless people are being
offered temporary shelter in empty hotel rooms and
apartments.
Strangers are helping strangers in this horrible time,
and their kindness will still be needed when the world
starts to recover.
And what am I doing during this lockdown? Apart from
donating to local food banks, I am reading and knitting up
a storm, and I look forward to the weekend “quarantini”
over the fence with the next-door neighbors. I also
look forward to seeing movies with the film group and
proofreading for Currents again one day but especially
to saying good riddance to corona.
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