How One Social Worker Is Surviving the Pandemic

by Jane Seskin, LCSW

Eating peanut butter Halo Top Mini Pops.

Reading mysteries by Louise Penny, David Baldacci,

Donna Leon, Michael Connelly, and James Patterson.

Lacing up tap shoes found in a thrift shop last

summer.  Dancing steps around the house.

Writing letters to three friends. Remember cursive?

Watching many hours of stand-up comedy. Wanting

and needing to laugh, to puncture the norms.

Listening and talking.  Talking and listening. 

Listening and talking.

Regularly sitting on a bench by the Hudson River.

Walking down a deserted street in early morning.

Stopping. Letting out one good scream. Moving on.

Organizing a linen closet, a coat closet and 39

cans of food (in case there’s a hurricane)!

Delivering flowers to three older neighbors.

Reading poems out loud by Mary Oliver, Molly 

Peacock, Billy Collins, and Nikki Giovanni.

Meeting a masked friend for a walk in the park.

Admitting to my feelings of vulnerability, sadness,

melancholy and loss. And knowing they will pass.

Jane Seskin (www.olderwisershorter.com) is a social worker, author, elder. Her most recent collection of poetry is Older, Wiser, Shorter: An Emotional Road Trip to Membership in the Senior Class.