Part 3: Chapter 3

Letter to Grammy

Photo by Elizaveta Kushnirenko on Unsplash

*This is Part 3: Chapter 3 of a novel called COVID Diaries, which is included in a paid subscription to Abby’s Alley. $30-a-year subscription provides you with 2-3 weekly installments of COVID Diaries.

The Bridge Room 111							April 26, 2020
515 Garden Plaza Court
Post Falls, ID 83854

Dear Grammy Phillips,
	I’m glad to hear they’re now letting you exit the building once a day for a walk. Please don’t slip on the ice again. Although, I suppose there’s no more ice outside. Right? I looked up the weather in Idaho to make sure.
	Thank you also for praying for me. You said to list things I’m thankful for. Like One Thousand Gifts, right? Have you read that lady? She saw beauty in everything. Okay. I’ll give it a try.
	I’m thankful to have Cherise and Jacob living behind us. They’re so head-over-heels in love with each other. They remind me to love Steve. They joined us for church today and Jacob fixed the sound on our TV, which hasn’t worked properly since we got it.
	I’m thankful for Shannon who’s generally very helpful, except when she forgets to hold the peanut butter jar while mixing it with the handheld mixer, and thus flings oil and peanut butter all over the kitchen. She also watches Johnny now while I homeschool. Last week, she and Johnny pushed marbles back and forth under her door to each other. Johnny laughed hysterically. 
	I’m thankful for Johnny lying his cheek on my knee and cooing. None of my other children were this cuddly. I’m thankful that Opal understands play-on words and idioms. I’m thankful for Theo’s ingenuity and earnestness. Opal can run laps around him verbally, but in the end, he just shrugs his shoulders and asks if she’d like to race big wheels down the sidewalk. Last week, I let them careen down our alley on their bikes. Theo shouted, “I haven’t had this much fun in years!” Suppose one month has felt like years to him.
	I’m thankful that Steve still has a job, and that we have computers and internet. I’m thankful that he helps with the kids and the dishes and is planning dates and game nights with our renters.
	I’m thankful for the ladies in my prayer group: Lucy and Dianne and Beatrice and Auntie Bev. I grow more and more thankful for my own life after hearing about theirs. I think I have the best life of them all. That should make me happy, right? So why are all these blessings so burdensome to me?

Love,
	Angela Phillips