Trisha Swindle is a senior youth services assistant at the Derby Public Library. She shared this story about what neighborliness can look like during a pandemic.
"There are two families in my neighborhood in Derby, Kansas, that have welcomed ours into theirs. The two moms in those households, the three of us have developed a network that is allowing our families to thrive even during this hard time. We take turns going to the grocery stores. We let each other know when we’re leaving, so that way if someone has missed something on the list, the other ones pick it up. If we’re low on a particular ingredient or necessity — wipes, or rubbing alcohol, hand sanitizer, gloves — the other one fills the gap. Our children have been able to do video games together and FaceTime calls. And during all of this amazingness, one household is making enough masks to cover the entire area.
"I don’t know what I would do without these two households. We all three have medically fragile people in our houses, which makes this even more complicated. So I am eternally gratefully for these two women and their marvelous families. I don’t know what I would do without them. They deserve to be celebrated. So Kathy, Cara, I love you, and I am so grateful for everything that you’ve done. We are going to weather this storm because we are together."
One month after this voicemail, Trisha is still partnering with these two neighbors. She says it’s reassuring to know that backup is available.
