What a Difference a Year Makes
Non-profit Spotlight: Reading Partners
Can next week really be February of 2021 already? This just doesn’t seem real, does it? This pandemic has been with us for a year now. Time seems to have both stopped and gone into hyper mode at the same time. Some kids have fallen way behind in their studies, which is why I chose to highlight Reading Partners as the non-profit this week. More on that at the end of my blog.
Jan. 2020 vs. Jan. 2021
My son, Atticus, has a birthday in a couple weeks. On Super Bowl Sunday he turns eleven. Which is odd since just last week I could’ve sworn he turned four. Since you’re reading this blog, I would bet you have kids, too, and you know the saying is true, time flies when you have kids. You turn around and suddenly, they’re five years older and have grown twice that in inches. And now they can beat you in Connect Four.
But in this pandemic, time also seems to have stopped. I remember waking him up at 6:30 a.m., making his breakfast and watching for the school bus.
Once he left, I would get my daughter up and do the same for her, only I’d drive her to school, then go straight to the radio station and begin prepping for my show which began at 10:00 a.m. I was the number one-rated radio DJ in Tulsa in my daypart, and life was good. I remember every detail like it was yesterday, but it was a year ago.
What a difference a year makes!
Now my son is in distance learning, and I lost my job so we are both home all day, every day. Aside from the occasional trip to the store, my weekly volunteer work and walking to the park down the street, we hardly go anywhere. Time seems to crawl along. And yet, in less than a week, we flip our calendars to a new month. Which is probably why I bought a wall calendar with scenic pictures of Hawaii. (Sidebar, I buy all my calendars in January because they’re 75% off.) We can now daydream of taking an exotic vacation where we swim on a luxurious beach at the base of an ancient volcano. SOMEDAY!
Till then, we are celebrating my son turning eleven during a worldwide pandemic, trying to make the most of his wishes, which is a huge party at Urban Air and a PlayStation 5. It’s a conversation I’m avoiding since I can’t do either. But he knows he’s loved, and we will have fun no matter what. I could be mistaken, but I think Dr. Fauci recently announced that a huge triple chocolate birthday cake helps mitigate the coronavirus, so we have that going for us.
Reading Partners
How are you doing one year into the pandemic? If you have kids, you know how difficult it’s been for them to keep their heads in the learning game. Even in-person schooling is challenging with all the cautious procedures in place. Now more than ever, the hard-working team at Reading Partners is vital. Studies have shown that approximately seven months (and counting) of learning has been lost. Reading Partners does one-on-one tutoring in a virtual way during the pandemic. Last year they benefited over 850 students in Tulsa and Jenks. But not without awesome volunteers like you.
This Saturday (January 30th) one of the greatest horror authors of all time, THE Stephen King will be involved in their fundraising efforts. If you buy a raffle ticket you could win a autographed book from Stephen King! The annual event: “Books, Brews and BBQ” is virtual this year.
And how about some BBQ from Rib Crib and beer from Cabin Boys Brewery to go with it? Local children’s authors and Tulsa music from Nightingale plus trivia and raffle prizes will make for a fun night at home.
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