But it's safe to guess that in this time of pandemic, with its enforced isolation and family separation, more people than
ever will be alone on
So today a few tips on how to make that happen, courtesy of a
The group's name sprang from a conversation
"I know I should have invited you," she recalls the friend replying, "but there was no room for you at our dining room table."
The problem this year, of course, isn't that too many dining tables will be full. It's that they'll be nearly empty, as people
who made plans to gather make the responsible decision not to. In 2020, making room at the table means something different,
which is why
The group — a loose association of 20 or so people, including aging experts — started meeting this summer to talk about how to solve the problem of isolation, especially, but not exclusively, for the elderly. The problem isn't new, but the virus has made it newly visible.
"With COVID-19, far more people have experienced loneliness and isolation than ever before," Johnston says. "It brought it out into the sunlight. People don't talk about loneliness, but people have started to talk about it because of COVID-19 and the restrictions."
As
In her long life as a journalist, Johnston has learned the value of supplying information in lists. So after the group traded ideas, she created two lists.
One is 16 tips for enjoying a
As
Among the tips:
— Schedule a Zoom meal with friends on the Wednesday before
— Begin a journal or add to one you already have. Consider starting work on a memoir. Emphasize gratitude and the things in your life for which you are thankful.
— Write a note to people you are thankful are in your life. Or, reach out to them by phone, email or text.
The group's second list offers tips on how to connect with someone who might be lonely on the holiday.
"The onus is usually on the lonely person," Johnston said. "They tell people who are lonely to reach out. But if people don't reach back, you're still going to be lonely." The group, she said, wanted to "set up the idea that there is a responsibility people have to make sure people are not lonely."
Tips on that list include:
— Make room at your table virtually. ... If it's too much of a hassle to include someone who's alone for an entire
— Leave a plant, homemade goodies or a card at the door of a neighbor you know is alone on
— Write "letters of gratitude" to friends you know will be alone. Mail them so they will arrive the day before
Again, the idea isn't to do all the things on the list. It's to find one or two that seem doable. The full lists are available online.
It's tempting to think of this pandemic
Ignore the holiday and view it as just another day. Stick to your usual routine, take something out of the freezer and chill.
(COMMENT, BELOW)
Previously:
• 10/23/20: Voting in Kamala's shoes --- the power of a candidate's sneakers
• 09/30/20: Tis the (election) season. Don't despair, take deep breaths --- and did I mention don't despair?
• 09/15/20: Winter's coming. The secret doctors won't tell you about surviving it in a pandemic
• 09/04/20: It's September. Already. Again. This year many wish we could skip ahead as an election and cabin fever loom
• 08/19/20: Is 2020 the worst year ever?
• 08/14/20: Mailmen brave the storm, and not just the political one
• 05/05/20: Coronachondria, coronacravings and pandemania: A few words to describe our strange new times
• 04/14/20: If you get the coronavirus, would you, should you, make it public?
• 04/02/20: The pandemic, a professor and a duck named Honey: A story of life in a time of death
• 03/23/20: It's OK not to feel OK right now. But here's how to feel better
• 03/20/20: Befuddled and grieving: As nursing homes restrict visitors in the COVID-19 crisis, one woman fears she'll never see her mother again
• 02/04/20: Where do we find relief in a relentlessly jangling world?
• 12/13/19: Reject the comparisons. Embrace the complication. Be the brightness you want to see. Tips for happier holidays
• 01/21/19: Farewell, Mary Oliver, a poet whose name you may not know, but whose words you most certainly do
• 09/06/18: A breeze of hope blows in the Windy City
• 08/29/18: Another summer. Again, a gift
• 08/17/18: In search of family in a small-town graveyard
• 08/09/18: Courage, kindness two years after 12-year-old blackboy was shot in Chicago
• 07/26/18: An everyday encounter made brighter by a good question: 'Do you have a story for me?'
• 06/19/18: A Big Sister's Guide to Life: Don't chase men and other practical advice
• 06/12/18: For 13 years, 2 friends wrote letters daily. It was a love affair of poetry, separated only by death.
• 06/01/18: What would we do without our brothers?
• 05/17/18: Forget a fiddler. City woman awakens to find a goose on her roof --- and laws about removing it and her eggs
• 05/10/18: A high school senior with college dreams was paralyzed by gunfire. Two years later, he's still pushing forward
• 04/05/18: Remembering the youngest history makers
• 04/03/18: The Parable of the (Expletive Deleted) Comfort Dog
• 02/15/18: Fees, fines, loans, scams: How the poor get poorer
• 02/01/18: When Paul Simon, Daniel Day-Lewis and Elton John say 'farewell' to work they love, should we too?
• 01/25/18: At Oscars time, let's snub the snubbing
• 12/28/17: The real 2017 word of the year
• 12/20/17: The laundry-folding robots are coming
• 12/13/17: How not to waste the last days of 2017