Seniors Use COVID-19 Downtime to Serve Others, Relax, and Reflect

For all of its pain, loss and agony, the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic has given many of us a chance to slow down and appreciate some of the simpler things of life. For many senior adults, the stay-at-home confinement has been a productive time for helping others and catching up on personal tasks.

We asked our readers to share with us how they’ve kept busy during the weeks of home confinement and what lessons they have learned from the experience. We asked for examples of positive, upbeat stories from their shelter-in-place time. The “silver lining,” if you will, behind this otherwise dark chapter in our history. We hope you find joy, inspiration, and wisdom in their responses.

Thanks to everyone who responded. For anyone else who wants to contribute to this conversation, feel free to add your comments at the end of this story.

Here are their stories, in their own words.

Stranded by the Travel Ban

By Don Beehler
Nashville, Tennessee

Don’s wife, Andra, center, leaving the airport in South Africa, flanked by daughter Brooke, right, and her husband Raphael, left. Brooke is holding newborn baby Eden.

In March my wife, Andra, went to Cape Town, South Africa, for the birth of our first grandchild and got caught in the travel ban, so we spent three-plus weeks apart during the lockdown. Although the airports were closed in South Africa, she was able to return to the states through a special U.S. State Department evaluation flight for American citizens. It’s great to have her back home.

After a 35-year career in public relations, including 18 years with my own firm, I wrapped up my business in April and retired effective May 1. These plans were in place long before the coronavirus hit, so while my firm will be counted as one that went out of business during the coronavirus crisis, the reality is that it had nothing to do with the timing of my retirement plans.

For the past several weeks one of my tasks has been going through client files, which was like a trip down memory lane. I was reminded of all the campaigns, media interviews and special events I was privileged to be part of on behalf of my clients.  And since I no longer need ties for business, I am happily donating most of them to charity! I’m looking forward to retirement living and to keeping up with Dave’s sage advice in his retirement blog as I navigate this new phase of life.

Learning He’s Not Yet Ready to Retire

By Steve and Marsha Ridgell
Abilene, Texas

Steve found time for painting and other household chores.

I am a traveling preacher and my wife is a retired school teacher.  So the home isolation has been really different for us.  Since I am now home on weekends more than ever, it has allowed us time to tackle some projects together.  Some are things we have been putting off – painting the shed, cleaning out the garage.  Many of these were projects we anticipated doing when I retire.  Getting them done now will hopefully free up some time to do what we really want to do in our retirement years.

 Of course, we also did a reevaluation of our financial situation and goals.  After all, things are different.  What we did not expect was that this gave us a chance to reexamine our priorities and do a “heart-check” on what matters to us.  That is always a good thing to do.  A tune-up to align our time and resources with our values.

 And we have figured out that I am not ready to fully retire.  This was a good “trial-run” to realize that I still really miss not getting to do my ministry.  That too was helpful as we look out at the next few years. We would not have chose this enforced quarantine, but we are thankful for the unexpected check-up that came with it.

Feels Like A Step Back in Time

By Clare Bratten
Nashville, Tennessee

Clare’s friend Glenna Sue King and Roscoe the dog take their musical gifts outside on the porch.

Before the coronavirus hit town, regular walks alternating with a senior water aerobics class were a part of my weekly exercise routine. Lots of lunches with friends, practice with a ukulele band and other musicians. Then the gym closed. Clubs, lunch with friends and my ukulele band halted. 

Our greenway winding around a public nine-hole golf course became a crowded freeway with frantic mothers pushing children in strollers, runners, bikers, dog walkers all dodging each other. Complaints about not having enough safe social distancing showed up on our neighborhood blog.  So I took to the neighborhood streets.  Though we have no sidewalks, our streets are fairly wide and traffic light – and now even lighter. So walking was a good way to tour my neighborhood. I saw children playing, or reading on front porches. I heard a man on a business call from behind shrubbery between the street and his house. Women in lawn chairs sat visiting. Some people were very busy with ambitious plantings of flower beds and vegetable gardens.  Traffic noise on nearby streets was muted.

People waved and smiled who probably would have not given me a second glance in the past. Fewer people looked at their phones. Watching the flowers of spring and so many people outside, I began to feel like this was a step into a quieter era before internet, TV, phones and our busy two-income lifestyles had become the rule. Like many of my neighbors, I now have a far more ambitious garden. I’ve added to my usual tomatoes, peppers and herbs two new raised beds with eggplants, fennel and brussel sprouts. (Probably too many brussel sprouts.)

Ordering groceries online and picking them up also has created some new opportunities. The two dozen eggs I ordered ended up being 42 eggs. So I could give a dozen to a neighbor who had run out of eggs. The two leeks I thought I ordered ended up being two bunches of leeks. So I could give one bunch away and make a leek quiche with the extra eggs.

I feel closer to the life my grandmother and mother lived – walking more and driving less, having more quiet time at home, more chores like cooking, and having to learn to make do creatively. I appreciate the kindness of underpaid people who work at the grocery store. I am grateful for the woman from my church who gave me five masks she made and she did not want pay. She preferred a donation to Second Harvest Food Bank. While some may be frustrated at our curtailed lives, I’m finding a quiet kindness and gratitude. A slower pace that can bring peace and reflection on the values we cherish and perhaps identify those habits of distraction and busyness we can shed when life returns to “normal.”

A Time for A Slower Pace and Spiritual Reflection

By Nancy Clinard Harper
Abilene, Texas

“Be still and know that I am God”

I never realized that when we retired I would make my life so busy with commitments,  responsibilities, volunteer work, doctor visits, time with my church, lunch with friends, and hobbies. And if that wasn’t enough, I started an at-home business that I do part-time. My husband had done the same thing, doing ministry work in our local jails, being a landlord, and other responsibilities.

This crisis has been a good time for us to slow down, to BE STILL and KNOW that I ( HE) is God. Be still and let the peace of God give you the assurance that God is near to you and God hears you. No rushing from one place to another, no grabbing a quick meal at a fast-food restaurant, no lunch dates with friends, but quality time at home. Time to cook some good home-cooked meals with my husband, working in the yard and enjoying the beauty of God’s creation. Time to send cards to encourage others. Time to make masks to help protect loved ones.  Time to worship with my brother’s family and my sister on Zoom. Time to sew for my granddaughter and more time on FaceTime with my grandchildren.  Accepting a simplier life and being satisfied.

I am so thankful for what I have right here in my own home, so thankful for all the essential people who are out there keeping our world going. So thankful for curbside service that keeps us older folks from having to put our selves at risk,and I will be so thankful and appreciative when I can get back to worship with all my church brothers and sister.

It’s a Busy Time for Church Ministries

By Denise Nelson
Montgomery, Alabama

Denise, far right, and other members of her church distributed food to the needy.

 I’ve worked (at my church where I am on the staff) the whole time. I think I’ve worked more than usual. We’ve given bags of food out in the parking lot at church. Some weeks we’ve given 100 bags out. It has slowed some since people got their stimulus checks. We’ve cooked and served at a homeless shelter. We’ve made masks for hospitals, hospice groups and nursing homes, retail workers, and for our members. I’ve delivered a lot to our members. I wish I had kept a list of how many I’ve given out. We’ve delivered snacks to the testing site and also to the testing at the public health building. And next we are delivering goodies to first responders. I didn’t personally deliver all of this, but I did organize it. Steve (my husband) and the elders have met and worked and helped also. He is an insurance agent so he has also worked through this, but from home. I said all this not to toot my own horn but to explain how we’ve spent this time. I need things to slow down!

Making Masks and Enjoying a Granddaughter

By Kathy Hogan
Abilene, Texas

I made a quilt top for a charity quilt auction. It was my first time to work on a quilt. It was lots of work but rewarding. I got to work on the quilt alongside my good friend Nancy Harper, who is a talented quilter. I also sewed 50 face masks, which went to a group called the Medical Mask Force of Abilene, which sent them to hospitals, rehab centers and nursing homes. Family and friends also got some of my home-made masks, including one for my daughter Stacy who is a physical therapist. Of course the most fun was spending lots of quality time with my granddaughter. I helped my daughter Kimberly potty train her, created a new play area for her in a large closet, and put together a 300-piece puzzle with her. To relax, I read four books and listened to Christian music. It was also interesting getting to watch not only my own church’s online Sunday worship service but also “dropping in” on the online services of other churches where family or friends attend.

Keeping Busy With Bible Cards, Jokes and Laughter

By Judy Coffman Cooper
Oxford, Mississippi

Early into Mississippi’s shelter-in-place order, I spent a lot of time making Bible promise cards to help me stay grounded – faith over fear. This foundation helped equip me to reach out to other widows, singles, and even kids who were experiencing challenges as they attempted to navigate unprecedented times. This helped make me thankful.

Then I found laughter as I purposefully chose to improve communication with my young, spaghetti-loving, out-of-state grandchildren. I researched jokes, puzzles, and silly facts, learning that there’s a historical Museum of Spaghetti in Pontedassio, Italy. Who knew! Maybe they will take me there one day. I laughed when my 10-year-old granddaughter responded to my efforts with her words of wisdom and humor: “Hard or difficult things do not kill you, they make you stronger. Except sharks. Sharks will kill you!

I’m thankful to be laughing … while keeping a watching eye out for sharks!