May 2020 - Koenig

29 05 '20

Space Making

It took me nearly nine years to clean one closet. After John died and most of his clothes had made it to the men’s shelter like he’d asked, I attempted to clear it but mostly kept it crammed with everything from seldom worn jackets to supplies for making vision boards. Unlike me, John delighted in getting rid of things. Because his journey from a terminal…

22 05 '20

Minding Your Mental Health

When recent results from the Covid-19 Impact Survey revealed that 6 out of 10 of us had felt anxious, depressed, lonely, or hopeless in the preceding 7 days, I was reminded of that which I have mostly had the luxury of merely observing. I heard the buzzing open of two sets of locked doors that clang loudly behind you as you enter the…

21 05 '20

The Rush of Re-Entry

Excitement is building with news of states opening back up after the initial wave of COVID in our community. That old familiar feeling of what can only be explained as bubbles swirling in my stomach and heart on the precipice of bursting. I put pen to paper this week planning those first steps back into…

15 05 '20

Lilacs Lost

Sometime between the fading of the hot pink blooms of the redbud trees and the arrival of the purple striped tulips, I began my daily watch. Last week I drove by to see, but it was not yet time. Patience, I reminded myself. But now it was a Monday morning after a week of biding…

12 05 '20

Tips on How to Assist a Domestic Violence Survivor During a Pandemic: Part 2 of a 3-Part Series

As our state begins to re-open for business, we all have our own definition of what it means to have “survived” the past 2 months. For some, it meant being both a daycare provider and full-time employee working from home. For others, it meant losing their job and scrambling to make ends meet until their…

08 05 '20

Mother’s Day Away

“Was what I just said really true?” I silently asked myself. I’d just claimed I felt sad that I would not be with my children on Mother’s Day. In the moment I did feel a little sad. While not an unusual thought for a mother to have, I questioned it. My children moved to other cities many years ago. If pressed, I could not remember the last Mother’s…

07 05 '20

Mandatory Mental Health Days

Exhaustion, tears, and tense lines across foreheads were daily revealing themselves to me as I checked in with my team. I studied them in Brady Bunch boxes on zoom. I could feel their frustrations, fears, and as we tally-marked our COVID way through March and now through April. Our culture is built on principle of…

01 05 '20

May Day Made Better

May Day reminds me of how I’ve never been good the anonymous acts of kindness. I do love to help. With three younger siblings there was always a child in need of shoe tied or a nose wiped. When I was old enough to babysit for other families, I delighted in sweeping the floors and doing the dishes to please the returning parents. By junior high, volunteering was vital in my life. First as a lawyer, now…