2020 Life Logs, Day 296: Here and There
Date: Friday, October 23, 2020
Weather: Warm and Sunny; High 67, Low 52 Degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, Falmouth, MA
Today was a day of running here and there. And I was able to do this thanks to friends, Peter and Karen Baranowski. When my car broke down on Tuesday evening, I rented a car for two days. I was supposed to return it this morning by 9 am, but my car was not going to be ready until late today or tomorrow. Karen called me yesterday and offered the use of one of their vehicles, so I took advantage of their kindness. I took Shadow to the groomer’s early this morning and then met Karen at the car rental place at 9 am to return the rental. Karen then drove us back to her house and turned her car over to me. I stopped at CVS on the way home to see if they had the double-strength flu vaccine for seniors. I have been checking for three weeks now, and finally today they had it. Check. Flu vaccine done. Then I went home and just before noon I got a call from Falmouth Motorcar saying that the cost of the repair to my Fit was going to be considerably more than anticipated, but that if I approved the work, the car would be ready in the early afternoon—much sooner than anticipated. I approved the work and waited for the call to let me know I could come get the car. I tried to call Karen to arrange a trade-off of cars, but I couldn’t get through to her. In the meantime, the groomer called and said Shadow was ready for pick-up. So off I went to get Shadow, then off to pick Ollie up after school. By this time, I had gotten the call to let me know the car was ready, but still I had not heard from Karen. Ollie came home with me for another work afternoon and just as I was getting ready to take him home, Karen called. We picked her up and then went to get my car. Ollie has been well trained. When I said we were picking Karen up, he reminded me that we would all need to wear masks if we were going to be in the car together. Sure wish our President was as Covid-safe as my eight year-old grandson! So, I did spend a day traveling here and there, but now I have my car back and am so grateful to the Baranowski’s for saving me the cost of another day of car rental. Thank you, Karen and Peter.
Tonight I finally made a contact that a number of us in my family have been working on since October 10th. It all started when my sister-in-law asked me if my sister Patsy was still in contact with her good friend from high school in Nitro, West Virginia, named Helen Stricklen. I assumed so, but when I asked my sister, she explained that the phone number she had used to reach Helen for years no longer worked. She hadn’t talked to her lifelong friend Helen for over five years. When Patsy and Helen were sophomores in high school, at age sixteen, Helen Landers decided to marry Bob Stricken. Because Helen was so young, they had to go to Kentucky to get married and my sister Patsy went with them to serve as their witness. That was in 1950. Tonight I found out that Helen and Bob are still alive, still married, and still living in Nitro,West Virginia. A nephew of mine had suggested trying to make contact through Helen and Bob’s church, the First Baptist Church in Nitro, so tonight I got on the church Facebook page and sent a message. Evidently the message went to all members of the church, and one of Helen and Bob’s granddaughters saw the message and got back to me. We will talk tomorrow afternoon and find a way to get Patsy and Helen once again in touch with one another. So again Facebook came to the rescue for me. It was invaluable during the weeks after Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico and was once again invaluable in getting Patsy and Helen reconnected.
