Staying connected essential to family, friends, self

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Please stay connected. I do not want to lose contact with you.

In today’s environment, with all our social media options, as well as E-mail, telephones, and texting, it seems hard to imagine that you could lose contact with a close friend or relative. But we all are bombarded with so many messages every day, that it is rather easy to lose track of someone important in the mix. I implore you, please do not lose me. Please do not lose anyone.

There is a real concern now that the Pandemic restrictions are lifting that many people will continue to stay in their respectful bubbles at home, will not return to work, will not return to church, and will not return to family gatherings.

But the 2020 Pandemic, truly created a great hole in our existence, and it continued to take from all of us. Many families across the United States never got a chance to mourn the loss of loved ones who died in 2020 or this year, or to get the hugs and support they needed when they needed it most. Some family members became separated by political ideologies and misunderstandings, and many employed people became estranged from their place of work and find it difficult to return to the office. Almost everyone in America can attest that some relationships became strained as the months of the pandemic stretched on and political ranting on social media pulled us apart.

We cannot continue long at that pace. We do need each and every one of us, and we need to stay connected.

Let us look around, first at some our most comfortable surroundings. Senior centers long have relied on your participation. They keep track of the numbers of participants involved in their centers and report that data as service units to their government and private funding providers so that operational money is available. Now that the center’s activity calendar is filling up, they are counting on you to attend. Your old friends at the lunch table are counting on you too. They need to see your face, and to have you participate in the card games.

Your family members do really need you in their midst, too. Your attendance is dearly sought at birthday parties and backyard barbecues. Even long-lost relatives need you. I can attest to that. I recently lost two family members who died in 2020, relatives whom I dearly loved. I got word of the first, thanks to a phone call, but the second I would have missed if not for a neighbor’s well-being check who spent the extra time to see who was listed as family on Facebook. Because of the fear of the virus, neither of these dear ones was properly mourned, or memorialized. Close family and friends were left to grieve alone, pouring through drawers of old photographs. It is hard to explain the pain, as I continue to have to share the story with other family and friends who are just learning of the loss of these dear ones.

If there is anything such as making a mid-year resolution, make it yours now. Call your family members. See your friends. Take selfies and fun snapshots together. Share your news, no matter how mundane. Visit your old haunts, strike up a board game with a new friend at the senior center. Resolve to make and keep that lunch date. Forget your health concerns for a while and make time to have fun. You will not regret it.

Barb Nadeau is the community relations manager for the Voluntary Action Center of Northern Illinois, which represents five counties. Barb has worked many years as a professional television and radio host, as well as a print and social media journalist, and as a volunteer coordination professional networking amongst non-profit social service agencies throughout Illinois. She is a freelance writer and an elected alderman in the City of Plano. Contact Barb at bvnadeau@gmail.com.

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