One man hurt his shoulder
a neighbor brought him a beer
Six feet apart
Nothing to fear.
Eight more joined the party
Five couples six feet away
We talked until hoarse
Cabin fever at bay.
We will remember that night
When survivors could brag
about how they had made it as
Friends Under The Flag.
___
Tom Crowley
Gulfport, Mississippi
April, 2020
The story
On Good Friday evening, Jack went
over to visit with Mike, who recently had shoulder surgery. Jack
carried his own beach chair, a bottle of wine and a glass. His dog,
“Brees”, followed behind on her leash. Jack sat down on the
sidewalk under a huge Magnolia tree, about 12 feet away from Mike,
who sat on his porch in a rocker, shadowed by his American Flag.
They toasted each other from a distance and visited for awhile.
Jack’s wife, Lynn, arrived, with
glass and chair, sans bottle, and joined Jack on the sidewalk.
Mike’s wife, Kim, soon appeared on the porch, waved to all and sat
in a chair on the lawn near the porch. Then the new
almost-neighbors, Eric and Michele, showed up with two chairs and a
cooler. They had just settled on a contract to build across the
street from Mike and Kim, next to Jack and Lynn, and ddirectly across
the street from us. That made six friends, each couple 6-10 feet
apart. My wife and I had just finished work on the house and opened
a bottle of good red wine (for her) and a nice boxed wine for me when
we heard laughing and joking outside. We went out to join the fun
with our own chairs and wine and saw our other side neighbors, Lowry
& Cyndy, on their porch. “Hey, lets go join the party at Mike
and Kim’s!”. Four more to six made ten – the limit for a
gathering under Gulfport Rules.
Soon, relieved that our “Shelter in
Place/House Arrest” self imposed sentence had ended temporarily and
safely, we all started talking at once, five cross-conversations,
happily sharing good stories and limiting the sad ones. It was clear
this was a much-needed break. Until I ran out of wine...I looked
around in a mild panic, my wife saw this drunl-in-the-headlights look
and said “Relax, we’ll go home soon. Mike, with empty glass
radar spoke up:
“Tom! Put your glas down in the
center of the yard and step back SIX feet.”
Holding his left arm in a sling and
his right hand clutching a bottle of red wine, Mike,after waiting
for me to clear the area, approached the glass...He poured, he backed
away, I rushed the glass and returned to my safe distance.
“Cheers!” We all toasted
something. A few hours later, we all went home to reflect on the
short evening’s rendezvous. COVID-19 be damned. Nothing can keep
good neighbors apart. In tryng times our instinct is to come
together, not separate and stay at home...We love and support each
other and always will. God, Flag, Country, Neighbors…. Deal with
it!
Tom Crowley, Neighbor, Gulfport
Mississippi – April 10, 2020.
