“If you are cold, tea will warm you;
if you are too heated, it will cool you;
If you are depressed, it will cheer you;
If you are excited, it will calm you.”
― William Ewart Gladstone
We took my mom to tea this afternoon at a cool little place in Statesville, NC, called the Historic Sharpe House. This was 5he first day sub with the pandemic.
I wrote about it on News Break. If you’d like to read that article, you can find it here.
But it was a perfect day to sit out on the lawn and have handsome young footmen bring us all kinds of wonderful delicacies. The breeze was blowing and the sun was out. OK, Our host Keith had to hold the tent over the symphony members down at one point, but as he told the rest of us “Just carry on.”
I bought us some raffle tickets and we were quite lucky. My mom won a pound cake and I won symphony tickets. You know I love experiences, so any type of performance is a great prize for me – I am looking forward to it. And I got a heads up on an interesting person to interview for News Break. I can’t wait to get that set up! I’ll share with you guys, too.
Which reminds me. I am always looking for story ideas. Is there something you wanna know about my town? Let me know and I’ll see if I can investigate.
Mother’s Day is a great day for many, but the saddest day of the year for others. I have had friends who were childless, who had lost a child, or who had lost their mothers, that told me it was a day they would not go to church or anywhere a big production was being made foe the day. They didn’t begrudge others, but their heartbreak make it a hard day for them. Look out for those in Pau and see if you can bring them a bit of joy.
If you had or have a good mom, celebrate them well. If you are a good mom but don’t get celebrated well, find a way you can enjoy the day. Don’t worry if others don’t celebrate you as they should – you know your worth.
Since I took Mom out today and I have other siblings, I am cutting out in the morning to give platelets. I keep getting emails that there is a special demand. I suspect many people don’t realize you can give during the COVID vaccination process. (With some other vaccinations you are deferred a few weeks.)
And speaking of that, an interesting experiment I did. I gave a lot of platelets in the past year because I knew others couldn’t or wouldn’t. People are still fighting other diseases like cancer and need them.
During the past year the Red Cross blood app stated showing if COVID antibodies were detected in your blood. Mine have always been negative.
I took my first vaccine and gave platelets a week later. My antibodies test told me I was negative for COVID antibodies. My writing buddy, Dr. Jeff Livingston (an ob-gyn in Dallas, TX and an avid writer about all things COVID on Medium.com), told me it was not unusual and it did not mean I had no protection.
I gave platelets again on April 21. My second COVID vaccination was April 23. That one came back reactive for antibodies. Yippee!
Have a great rest of the weekend. Drink some tea, hug your mother if you’re both vaccinated, and if not buy a big gift. Seriously enjoy your day, whatever your circumstance.if you’re like me and have no children, and saw your mother today I’ll be doing platelet duty but hope to see her after that. Shhhh….’she’s getting a new bathrobe.
In the Box, Out of the Box 