A LOCKDOWN JOURNAL: LIVING WITHIN A STEPHEN KING NOVEL

 A series of essays....

"THE LONGER I STAY HOME, THE MORE HOMELESS I LOOK!"

Courtesy @leskgomemes

....as seen through my eyes!

By: Jacqueline E Hughes

And so this story goes...

“Awe, for goodness sake! The Senate is at it again. For, at least, the eleventh time, they're investigating Hillary Clinton and the 2012 Benghazi attack, all at the taxpayer’s expense. Don’t fact-check me on that number, but it has to be close. It’s like continually kicking a rock and hoping it will produce blood from a crack you pound into it...before you break your toes!”

“Sorry,” he said, while walking into the room from the kitchen.  “I had the faucet running but caught the last part...how did you break a toe?? Only kidding. It’s just indicative of the way Benghazi has become such an obsession among the conservative rank-and-file. I hear they still sell Benghazi paraphernalia like mugs and t-shirts.”

“ Well, they have nothing else to chastise the Democrats with, so they’re grasping at straws. I am muting this puppy for a little while,” she said. “I need a nice, long break from our ridiculous reality. Let’s go bake something yummy for dessert tonight!”

“Between the two of us, I figure it will take us approximately 250 days in quarantine to complete this puzzle. At the rate of two pieces per day, per person, with one thousand pieces all in various shades of brown, beige, and green...yep, that’s about right. We should have scrapped it from the beginning and gone with more color,” he said, while scrutinizing the tiny piece of irregular shaped cardboard in his hand. “What do you think?”

Turning towards him with a smile on her face, “Sorry. It’s like my rule of thumb with books, you begin one and you finish it to the end. Half read books are not allowed. Someone spent a large chunk of time out of their life writing it. Look, we’re making some progress with the right tower! Think how accomplished we’ll feel when....”

“I know, when we look at the completed puzzle...in about 226 days from now! Are you hungry for lunch yet?”

“Here’s your mask and disposable gloves,” she says, while handing the precious merchandise to him at the front doorway. “I hope they have most of the items on our list so you don’t have to go back to the grocery store for a very long time.”

“The list is short. Besides, you can whip up a grand meal from just about anything, no matter what. We won’t starve even if we don’t have ham this Easter.” Mumbling, “Ham for two, please,” and deeply missing family and friends. He slips the clean, white dust mask over his nose and mouth and says, “I’ll be back in a flash.”

“And I’ll be ready to wipe everything down with disinfectant when you get back...including you, mister. Remember to not touch your face! I love you...!”

FRENCH APPLE CAKE...
"THIS HAS GOT TO STOP!"

“You really don’t want to look outside the window this morning. It’s like April Fool’s Day but in mid-April!” she warned. “It’s like somebody has a really whacked sense of humor.”

“I know. It snowed..overnight, didn’t it? It..won’t last. Ground..is..too..warm,” his voice continues to wane and he slowly covers his face with the warm blanket.

“Oh, winter, just go away.”

“Let’s zoom the kids!” she says, with a warm smile spreading across her face. “It’s a beautiful Sunday afternoon and I’m sure they’re outside in their yard loving the fresh air.”

Chiming in with equal enthusiasm, “Sounds like a plan,” he agrees.

“Oh, there they are, there they are! Hi. How are you? What’s up...I’d really like to give you a big hug and a kiss right now.. But, I promise to be patient.”

“Okay, they didn’t have any yeast, All-Purpose flour, toilet paper, or hand sanitizer, but....I found our favorite ice cream!!! Love you, Babe.”

“Love you, too, Honey. But, will you still love me when you have to roll me out of this house in a few weeks?”

Watching her wipe the box of Wheat Thins down with disinfectant, “I really don’t think we have to worry about that. I was anxious to check if our local store offered more protective measures between employees and customers this time. We were all fairly lenient a few weeks ago. Everyone seems to have improved with masks, gloves, and plastic dividers between cashiers and customers. We’ve got to take this seriously!”

"OH, WINTER, JUST GO AWAY."

“I swear, the longer I stay home in lockdown the more homeless I look,” she says, staring into the bathroom mirror. “Thank goodness I never got rid of my hair bands after sporting my very short cut. They’ve come in handy as I go for a petite pigtail in between showers.”

“Hey, our granddaughter called me ‘Spiky’ the other day on FaceTime. She said I looked like I’d just stuck my finger in an outlet. I guess Papa needs a bit of a trim, too.”

“Well, desperation dictates, my dear. You’ll know how much our wedding vows meant if I have to ask you to please trim my hair. It’s either that or we take down all of the mirrors.”

“Ugh, commercials. I don’t like it when we watch shows that aren’t recorded to watch later!” she says, while moving a little closer to her husband on the couch. “Fast forwarding through the commercials is almost cathartic for me.”

Taking her hand in his, he suggests, “We’ll just mute them and talk instead.”

“We can’t complain during all of this, you know? Technology has kept us in touch with those we love, we have plenty of food and the means to cook it, it would take us a long time to read all of the books we currently own, including the new Stephen King novel, we talk and play cards and put difficult puzzles together all while trying to figure out who we are as individuals and as a couple moving into an unclear future.”

“I couldn’t imagine not having a warm bed to slide into at night knowing that when I wake-up, there’s plenty of clean water and fresh coffee to brew,” he says, smiling. "But, seriously, I can’t believe that some people are afraid to answer their doors because ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) is still on the prowl during this pandemic. Inconceivable! Others have lost their jobs only to wake-up not being able to pay their rent or bills, and wondering where their next meal is coming from. Children going to bed hungry, again, night after night.

All of our lives have been changed forever, you know. We're looking at a completely different world from here on out where the word 'normal' has no meaning anymore."

Looking up at him, “I’d say we are extremely blessed. Having said that, being blessed is our motivation to help those who have far less than we do. Don’t you think? What you and I have to decide is what our plan is after this. Then, we can help others survive and move on. There are plenty of options out there. Besides, being retired now makes us flexible and open for just about anything."

“I like how you think.” Planting a kiss on the top of her head, he looks back towards the television and is surprised to see the closing credits of the show they had been watching gliding up the flat screen in tiny, black print. 

“Well, maybe the next time we decide to carry on a serious conversation we should apply the ‘pause’ instead of the ‘mute button,” she says, snuggling into the warmth of his body.

“Thank goodness for On Demand, I suppose,” he replies, as she elbows his ribs in a playful gesture.

Stay Home. Stay Safe. Stay Healthy. Reflect.

Copyright © 2020 by Jacqueline E Hughes

All rights reserved

MILESTONE BIRTHDAY, JOHN PRINE, AND WAKING PEOPLE UP TO REALITY

 A series of essays....

OUR ATTEMPT TO ORGANIZE A SLEEPING PEOPLE AROUND SPECIFIC GOALS.
YOU HAVE TO WAKE THE PEOPLE UP FIRST, THEN YOU'LL GET ACTION!!!

Photo courtesy EMPA

....as seen through my eyes!

By: Jacqueline E Hughes

A meme offered by a friend on Facebook this morning struck a nerve in me; one that has been tingling and sending some of us important messages since November 8, 2016. I say “some of us” because a vast majority of us among the left-wing persuasion had either acquired so much faith in the goodness of humanity during the Obama era or, were blinded by the fact that ‘laws’ written into our Nation’s Constitution, would never tolerate stupidity in any form and 45's sorry behind would be removed from the White House in record time. I was hoping that the vast majority of citizens and politicians would not take his actions for long and his hand-picked vice president would just have to do throughout the duration of this presidency. Pence would have to do until 2020 when we could legally make change happen. 

That never happened. The beast was allowed to exhale his rank smelling breath from sea to shining sea right alongside his equally sick and greedy friends in high places. 

Every. Single. Time. An individual or group prepared to mentally or physically challenge his early regime, his minions upheld his rank and status with nothing less than their own lives. Why? Money, status of their own, out of plain fear itself, or a combination of all three? Back then, I don’t think many of us had the exact answer. Hell, we were still in speculation mode! This could never happen to a country as great as ours; a nation built upon a collection of laws and strong principles and enough people who would certainly adhere to these laws through thick and thin, come hell or high water...

Sadly, a saying I first heard in college that has stuck with me all these years comes to mind: Good guys finish last. Or, if you don’t cheat the system, you will always lose the fight. I never knew how real and hurtful to so many the application of this saying would become in my lifetime. 

We knew, for the most part, what was in store for us right from the beginning. Did we wish to believe it? No. We chose to believe in the basic goodness of mankind. This man had been around doing his nastiness for many years. People who worked for him knew him well and even came out in 60 Minutes interviews to offer examples of his hate and acknowledged stupidity as a businessman and failure as a human being. A spoiled brat of a man whose daddy bailed him out of trouble but failed to give him love now sits among us, in the highest office, distributing his revenge upon the little people he has always despised and always feared of becoming himself one day.

But, he just happened to be media’s circus clown, too. His policies and antics guaranteed a good show and great television. The Native American people and friends giving-up their time and health to prevent an oil pipeline running down from Canada and bisecting their precious lands certainly knew. The false hope he offered to the coal miners and their families in a time when even he knew it was a lost cause but his pursuit of them could guarantee him future votes, have now opened-up their eyes enough to know the truth. 

Recalling his extreme ‘Executive Order’ phase beginning his first few days in office, “If people don’t like it, we’ve got to have a country folks. Got to have a country. Countries in which immigration will be suspended would include places like Syria and Libya. And we are going to stop the tens of thousands of people coming in from Syria.” All of this was under the guise of protecting our Nation from foreign terrorists entering into the United States. He knew then what it would take to stir the pot of hatred among his minions and place genuine fear in those of us who disagreed with him on one policy after another.

His total disdain for the well-being of human life in general and the manipulation of those who could and would carry-out his desires of what many of us entitled ‘early on dictatorship’ should have been more apparent and feared from the very beginning. After all, he gave every sign and indication of taking control of the country on his terms and in his time schedule. But, unfortunately, it was a sideshow the media could not give-up on and they followed him to the ends of the earth while verbalizing every phrase, showing each disgusting mannerism, and opening up about his genuine distaste for strong, intelligent women (which we already surmised through Hillary) and his personal experiences of physically abusing woman for his own entertainment.

The meme I alluded to in my beginning thoughts refers to the greatest mistake of ours as a law abiding, people loving nation:  Our greatest mistake has been trying to organize a sleeping people around specific goals. You have to wake the people up first, then you’ll get action! It's time to wake-up, go to the polls or write-in your votes in November, and vote him out for good!!  

PRINE IN 1975

JOHN PRINE -- A GENTLE MAN
WITH A HUGE HEART AND A KIND SOUL...

                                  Photos courtesy Tom Hill/Wireimage

As I sit here in my own home, isolated from my children, grandchildren, and friends, listening to songs written and performed by the great John Prine as a mid-April snow-shower blankets the world outside, I can’t imagine a more severe wake-up call than a global pandemic threatening and  taking so many lives. It’s invisible grip has us alone and lonely watching the chaos of thousands fighting for their last breath and wondering if we could be the next number that fattens the statistic column featured in bright red on the right side of most cable channel screens these days.

I can only ask what will it actually take to wake the people up first before we get the action required to shut this scourge on humanity, in the form of a man who could care less about his fellow humans, down for good? A man who not only has never offered comfort to the living members of families now mourning the death of loved ones, but who is actually responsible for their death in the first place by not handling the pandemic with speed and wisdom. Think about that for a moment. 

This man has touted the strength and power of a strong economy from day one. Ironically, he is now personally  responsible for our nation’s greatest economic demise since The Great Depression nearly one hundred years ago, lasting from October of 1929 to 1941! He either does not truly understand that by his actions, along with those of the Republican Party in all levels of government, or his lack of action to subdue this pandemic from its earliest stages, his complacency, lack of caring, and fear of losing his election this year, will always be remembered by his immortal words...”I don’t take any responsibility.” 

For now, I am finding solace in the lyrics of John’s songs that make me laugh, make me think, and make me wonder about my life as a young woman growing-up as a citizen of the Midwest, or the ‘Small Heartland,’ with its amber waves of grain blowing on a warm, summer breeze, taking long walks along the Lake Michigan shoreline holding hands with someone you care about, and living the uncomplicated (even though we didn’t agree at the time) life of a passionate youth hell-bent on becoming whomever they wished to be. 

Today, all I want is an opportunity to have my grandchildren enjoy the same freedoms we often took for granted back then.. Maintain the hope that their innocence is not stripped away from them too soon.. And, pray that they are more selective about the woman or man they vote for to lead and run our country in the future. I would do anything to take back the outcome of the Presidential election of 2016...for their sake, as well as for the thousands of martyrs who have died from complications of COVID-19, including all of the caregivers who have worked so hard to save their lives only to have lost their own in the process.

FRIENDS

I refer back to John, the falling snow, and one of my best friends celebrating her milestone birthday today. At this moment, I will have to find solace in that which I still can enjoy and have a small amount of control over. It will always be the little things that provide us with the happiness we  seek; even when one of those things happens to be helping to organize and ignite a fire under a sleeping people around specific goals. We have to wake-up and find our voices before our opportunity to do so is lost forever. Vote in November!

Stay safe. Stay healthy. Stay smart and we will get through all of this.

Copyright © 2020 by Jacqueline E Hughes

All rights reserved

WHEN THIS IS ALL OVER, WHAT SHALL WE CHANGE? EVERYTHING!

 A series of essays....

THE NEW WORLDWIDE FASHION ACCESSORY FOR
SPRING, SUMMER, AUTUMN (?) OF 2020

....as seen through my eyes!

By: Jacqueline E Hughes

“We fell asleep in one world and woke up in another.

Suddenly, Disney is out of magic,

Paris is no longer romantic,

New York doesn't stand up anymore,

the Chinese wall is no longer a fortress, and Mecca is empty.

Hugs and kisses suddenly become weapons -- and not visiting parents and friends becomes an act of love.

Suddenly, you realize that power, beauty and money are worthless and can't get you the oxygen you're fighting for.

The world continues its life and it is beautiful. It only puts humans in cages. I think it's sending us a message:

You are not necessary. The air, earth, water and sky without you are fine. When you come back, remember that you are my guests. Not my master."  — Anonymous Author

The ritual of waking-up early to write intensifies everyday that the morning breaks earlier and the days begin to roll into one another and be renamed Thatday, Thisday, and Whatday is this? Most human contact is encapsulated in small screens and going outside means raking last autumn’s leaves and tending to the flower patches. My goodness, we're going to enjoy some hellishly noteworthy gardens this year...when we’re able to walk openly and get out to see them!

John Prine didn’t make it. Man, that sucks! He was a gauge of hope for me. I remember thinking, “If we don’t lose John, this crumbling world is turning around and the highly susceptible will have given us more hope to carry-on and believe in the strength of mankind and the future.” RIP, John. You are loved. You will be missed.

We won’t remember all of their names like we will John’s. Too many heroes are falling, divesting this world of good people who signed-up to help their fellow man out of the grace and glory of their own hearts. Like an Irish storyteller (a seanchaí), the survivors come home each night and relay their intensely sad and often gruesome stories to those who will listen, only to return, in far less than adequate battle gear, to do it all over again the next day! Their loving efforts and hard work will be remembered forever.

And, there will always be someone like you and me, isolated within our homes, who listen, keyboard at the ready, fingers poised, willing to open up our hearts to the truth and layout our feelings to anyone who wants to read our ideas and opinions. I am humbled by you taking the time to read mine each week.

After reading the story highlighted above, it was important for me to sit down and contemplate the ramifications of each line, every thought and purpose behind the author’s words and how they would and should affect all of us. Essentially, “We fell asleep in one world and woke up in another.” What was black is now white, tall is short, high is low, soft is hard, right is wrong, and fairy tales and children’s stories have been successfully written with even less prompting.

It’s exactly what it’s been like living under the current administration in Washington D.C. for the past four years; an upside down world of wrong versus right and what we were asked to believe in has now turned against us and used as ammunition to strike us down at every turn. The war zone we live in dictates that, “Hugs and kisses suddenly become weapons, and not visiting parents and friends becomes an act of love.” Sadly, our lives have changed drastically from what we previously thought to be normal. Ordinary and usual become preconceived notions formulated long ago in another time and a different place.

Certain unhealthy changes have already altered our lives. The price we have had to pay for them is staggering! 

“Suddenly, you realize that power, beauty, and money are worthless and can't get you the oxygen you're fighting for.” This makes me wonder why greedy, wealthy individuals believe that their money and power will sustain their health and well-being like some magical, golden cloak slipped over their sleazy shoulders. 

MOTHER EARTH WEEPS

And, the message that Mother Earth is sending us is profound and clear: The Earth will get along just fine without the presence of humans. In fact, the Earth, with her clean water and unpolluted sky, existed much better before we arrived. If humans are shutdown for a while either by their own stupidity or a worldwide pandemic, and are fortunate enough to return to this nurturing planet we called our home...she will be there for us with opened arms but, on her own terms this time around.

So, when we sit down with plenty of time on our hands and the opportunity to ponder the future, let us recognize that life has changed dramatically from even a few weeks ago. The changes are not lost on any of us, including the young children we depend on to help make the future a better place to live, thank goodness. I want their voices to be heard; shouted out loud and clear from every soapbox across the world! And, I want us all to listen intently and with open minds. After all, the poor marks issued to the last several generations should contribute to our willingness to accept their changes.

What has to change? EVERYTHING! The message is out there loud and clear. We must learn to respect. This means to respect everything and everyone around us. Without respect we are nothing. We need to love more and give love to others in order to receive love in return. We must embrace joy, be joyful ourselves, and ignite joy in others by taking great pleasure from life and the world we live in. These are not the simplest things to do. This may not provide a yield of wealth for us with golden coins filling our pockets, however, in and of itself, life will become greatly enriched.

As the new song entitled No Time For Love Like Now by singer and songwriter Michael Stipe implies, there is “No time for love like now. The lockdown memories still remain. When did this all begin to change? I am waiting for you. Whatever waiting means in this new place. I am waiting for you.” 

Loving and being loved doesn’t mean we can’t get angry, loud, or shout from the rooftops!! For me, allowing the anger we feel to fire us up helps to create needed change. In these difficult times, there are no grounds for complacency. We’ve been complacent, fearful of, and tolerant of a man and his presidency that has only served him, one way or another, for far too long!

Fueled by the abhorrent stupidity, greed, and selfishness of so many, we grow weary of extending messages of hope and love fearing that through the death of so many good people, hope itself is fleeting; love is unattainable. But, isn’t the sacrifice for and the pure joy of helping others the ultimate forms of hope and love? Let us learn by example. Learn that by being vulnerable we become stronger and wiser. We must understand that our ‘hugs and kisses’ will soon be needed in abundance and visiting parents and friends should and will always be a great act of love.

Stay safe, stay healthy, and be strong! Get angry and help create positive change.

Copyright © 2020 by Jacqueline E Hughes

All rights reserved

BITS AND PIECES WITH THREADS INTO OUR IMAGINATION

A series of essays....

UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO TESTED THE BUBBLE HELMET IN 2016
TO TREAT CRITICALLY-ILL PATIENTS IN NEED OF BREATHING ASSISTANCE

....as seen through my eyes!

By: Jacqueline E Hughes

Leaving this world without having the opportunity of a loved one holding your hand, is frightening...very sad. It is happening every day as COVID-19 sweeps through all fifty states. The virus is indiscriminate, lethal to many, and odorless...that is, if the smell of fear is undetectable. 

One doctor likened the Emergency Room of his New York City hospital to an elaborate game of Tetris; hospital beds positioned side-by-side and end-to-end with patients awaiting medical attention while others sit outside in the waiting room, incapable of adhering to a safe distance apart, anticipating their own turn in this topsy-turvy game of life and breath (death).

Nurses, categorized as one of our most ‘essential variety’ of workers and must wear protective gowns, masks, gloves, and deal with the lack of ventilator machines, are not immune to this invisible disease. I envision them, along with the doctors, EMTs (Emergency Medical Technicians), ambulance drivers and attendants (and a long list of others) lining up to receive a Purple Heart in every town across the United States. They will say, "It is our duty to help others."      

The remainder of us MUST live in our sterile, individually disciplined worlds...for now. 

EVEN THOUGH IT MAY SOMETIMES FEEL
LIKE IT -- WE ARE NOT ALONE IN THIS!!

Serious times demand serious thoughts and reflections. Regrets in our lives can stand out and loom largely in our hearts during this coronavirus disease pandemic. It’s human nature. For the most part, we are kind but frail creatures, susceptible to a bit of ego boosting, but light-up like the brightest star when told we are or assume we are needed by others whether they be loved ones or strangers. Just ask any parent of an adult child.

Life is not perfect. Living through these harrowing times is no exception. However, the picture of relearning the loving  fundamentals of family time such as preparing and eating meals together, playing cards, board games, or putting puzzles together on the dining room table, baking bread or resurrecting long neglected family recipes, would bring a bold and modern flourish to the likes of a Norman Rockwell painting!

How many of us are sitting back in our inside world, safely catching-up on the outside news, while secretly admiring the home library of a particular news anchor, as well as  their contributing experts who have chosen books rather than paintings or reflective windows and mirrors as their home backdrops? I feel like a literary voyeur hoping the camera stays on them long enough to be able to read as many book titles as possible. You can tell a lot about a person via their home library. Evidently, a lot about ourselves, as well.

Courtesy of Amanda Patterson

Our natural creativity and talents come pouring out when we have the time to concentrate on the things we love to do and organize the imagination and originality trapped inside of us. The British family who performed a song from Les Miserable after changing the lyrics to conform with their newly sequestered lifestyle was a social media treat. Free concerts offered by well known musicians and books read by authors and various celebrities have boosted our morale and placed smiles on our faces and in our hearts.

Ironically, our sequestered imaginations have been brought to life due to the fact that we have been sequestered within our homes by social distancing!! It is our time to shine; accelerate innovative ideas whenever possible. 

Kudos to the Texan family whose company is manufacturing ‘bubble helmets’ as swiftly as possible in the hopes that their product can assist doctors fighting on the coronavirus frontline to treat critically-ill patients in need of breathing assistance. The expertise and imaginative progression of the researchers working on a vaccine for the coronavirus is illuminating our hopes for a source of prevention from this detestable disease and worldwide pandemic. Given all of the great scientific minds being pooled together on this one, we can only hope that a vaccine is close due to all of the tremendous talent working to make it happen.

Recently I saw a post on social media that read, “Today is March 97th.” It gave me a chuckle and made me realize it was kind of true. Things I did at the beginning of March seem like they happened a very long time ago. Coincidentally, writing this today, on what the calendar is telling me is April 1st, adds an element of humor to this feeling of elongated spaces in time. 

I wish this was simply an elaborate April Fools’ Day prank. Alas, it is not. It is real. We must never forget that these days are borrowed but the memories of cooperation, camaraderie, and compassion for others will always be ours to keep; forged into our thoughts long after the COVID-19 Pandemic is written into the annals of history and before we face yet another life or death challenge in our lives.

Remember to stay safe and healthy and take care of you.

Always sending love and energy your way.

In loving memory of my beautiful

Aunt Joyce who passed away 

earlier this week. Love to her entire

family. What a very Special Lady!!

Copyright © 2020 by Jacqueline E Hughes

All rights reserved

COMING OF AGE AT FOURTEEN IN CHICAGO

A series of essays....

CHICAGO -- MY LOVE AFFAIR WITH THIS CITY BEGAN LONG AGO

Photograph: Jaclyn Rivas



....as seen through my eyes!

By: Jacqueline E Hughes

These past several days, now running into weeks, have given many of us time for reflection...

The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky is a classic. Have you read this time-honored novel? It was my introduction to Russian authors and literature when I was fourteen years old. My uncle, John Moshak, was a Russian Language and Russian History professor in Chicago at the time and I was staying with him and my Aunt Helen as the nanny for their twin daughters while Helen gave birth to their son, Damien...many years ago. This is when I fell in love with Chicago, two beautiful little girls, a sophisticated lifestyle, the Chicago Stock Exchange, and Russian literature.

It wasn’t the theme of The Brothers Karamazov, the conflict between faith and doubt, that intrigued me the most. Rather, it was the opportunity to learn about a brand new world filled with mysterious characters and mature plots that my uncle handed to me that afternoon while standing in the living room of their three-story brownstone walk-up. I recall him saying that this would be my ticket to another world; the beginning to my education into a new life. He was right. That summer of my fourteenth year shaped my future and introduced me to the mature women I was to become. 

FIRST EDITION OF THE BROTHERS KARAMAZOV.
DOSTOEVSKY DIED LESS THAN FOUR
MONTHS AFTER ITS PUBLICATION,
FEBRUARY 9, 1881

During that same summer I was introduced to soft boiled eggs placed in a small cup, cracked in half, and eaten from the shell. Helen took me downtown via the “L” (nickname for Chicago's elevated subway system) to see the Chicago movie premier of Doctor Zhivago. One evening, I babysat for the young daughter of one of their friends and sat, most of the evening, on a window ledge watching the twinkling city lights and listening to the cacophony of honking horns in the streets below me. Uncle Johnny initiated me into the fast-paced world of the stock market and we visited the Chicago Stock Exchange on a sunny morning when he asked me to do my own research and come up with a business I thought would make quick gains in the near future. Later that summer, he purchased, in my name (cosigned by my Mother), one share of Boeing stock and wisely told me how to watch it move, divide, and, hopefully, prosper. 

I came of age that summer. 

After that summer, it was difficult to return to the mundane life I believed I had in Michigan. But, I was determined to thrive and grow by adding new books to my reading list while always remembering what my uncle taught me about expanding my horizons and using what the world had to offer in order to do so. 

After feasting on Crime and Punishment by Dostoyevsky, I moved on to Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy during the school year which led me to War and Peace by Tolstoy the following summer. My uncle had gotten me hooked on Russian literature and I was beginning to embrace other worldly authors who expertly enticed me into the flavors of France, Italy, Spain, and Ireland. I began to surround myself with other cultures just waiting to open my mind to worldly marvels, exotic people, and future destinations of travel. 

TOLSTOY SITTING ON BENCH
AT HIS HOME IN
YASNAYA POLYANA IN 1897

TOLSTOY AT HIS HOME
IN MAY OF 1908  AT AGE 79...
TAKEN BY PROKUDIN-GORSKY,
THIS WAS THE FIRST COLOR PHOTO
PORTRAIT MADE IN RUSSIA

While doing research yesterday, I came across a quote which read, "All the beauty of life is made up of light and shadow,” by Leo Tolstoy, and my love affair with the writings of Mr. Tolstoy was unleashed, once again. To say that we’re all living through a destabilizing time of ‘shadow’ is certainly an understatement. But, one thing is abundantly clear: Whatever may come, love, hope, and community will be the ‘light.’ This simple quote by one of the greatest writers the world has ever known begs me to offer hope to all and encourage the belief that you and your loved ones are doing well.

Our world is changing with every breath we take as we stay home and reintroduce ourselves to those we are close to and love so much. We might be learning to embrace our cooking and baking skills once again or healing old wounds of the heart and spirit. Being closer and more in-tune with our own glowing spirit is one of the best habits we can aspire to as it makes us think about, trust in, and make good decisions for ourselves and others.

Our neighbor wrote this morning asking how we were doing and seeing if we needed anything. Now, knowing Ginny, she would be looking out for all of her neighbors anyway but, it always feels good to know someone is there for you when you need them the most. And, by texting back and forth, I found out how our other neighbors were coping during our isolation period.

If I am being honest, I can hardly wait to see what the future holds for mankind. As most ‘near death’ experiences seem to prove, precious life becomes more cherished and appreciated after experiencing trauma. If this holds true, the coronavirus is creating millions of people who may see our world in a much different light. While working together to bring our Earth back to her healthy state of being, we will treasure how clean our waters are becoming, how breathing fresh air (even in and around our large, industrial cities) is a privilege, and create worldwide decisions about how to keep it this way. 

Even though we have much to overcome in the next few months and a major election to exercise our right to vote in come November, we are becoming acutely aware of what it takes to move ahead and prosper. “All the beauty of life is made up of light and shadow.” Let us paint a new portrait of sharing life with others by utilizing the method of understanding shadow and light: Shadows may disable us temporarily, but the Light will always be there to guide us in the right direction. Trust in one another, abide by the best interests of those around you, and believe that others will always be there to help get us through difficult times. Together....we are the light!

Stay safe, healthy, joyful, kind, and hopeful and we will be there as a global community to pick-up the pieces and make this world a better place for everyone.

Copyright © 2020 by Jacqueline E Hughes

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