ECRWSS
The Greenwich Weekly Newspaper, where we celebrate our hometown with Greenwich news, people, and events.
November 20, 2020
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What If?
COLUMN
By Patricia Murphy
Some time ago, I was third in line at a local store when a young man checking out, who was about 30 or so, picked up a small box of Godiva chocolates and set it down for purchase. There was an older lady between us who watched this with interest, and he smiled at her in a slightly embarrassed, self-conscious kind of way, then went back to his transaction. As he was finishing up, he seemed to impulsively grab another of the little two-piece packages, and then unexpectedly handed it to the woman on his way out of the store.
Greenwich COVID-19 Update
gift shop, Splurge, and soon we had an impromptu little network of small packages appearing at the doors of unsuspecting neighbors. Shortly after, as Jenny was making dinner for her family, she wondered, what if I made a couple of extra trays of ziti, which have since become biweekly dinners we now give to a few families around town who can use some extra hands. This holiday we’re contemplating more what ifs – what if we could brighten the season for children and drive business for local shop’s at the same time? What if we could give a few of our elderly neighbors a small gesture so they knew someone was thinking of
Speechless, the woman stared at that little gold box like it was actual treasure. “Enjoy,” he said simply, before he disappeared. Speechless, the woman stared at that little gold box like it was actual treasure. And for the f irst time I noticed her weariness, the sadness around her eyes, the slouch that said her life was hard in any of the myriad ways life is hard, and that few had ever bought her chocolate just to say ‘enjoy’. She looked from the cashier to me, disbelief on her face, and whispered ‘Thank you,’ almost reverently to the vacant space where seconds before the man had been. During the early months of the pandemic, when I thought baking was the solution to all my family’s problems (it sadly wasn’t), I thought again of that young man and that quiet exchange in our neighborhood store. And as I was assembling the ingredients to a banana bread, I wondered, what if I made a couple of extra to give away to people who may be alone, or sad or scared right now? I reached out to my friend Jenny and Sonia from my favorite local
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them? What if for every gift we bought our kids, we bought one for a child an emergency worker? What if we added a little something at check out and turned around and handed it to the person behind us? What if? It's easy to think the problems of the world are so big that there’s nothing any of us can individually do to confront them. It’s easy to be discouraged, to retreat and lament the often rough meanness of our age. But what if we each decided that every day presented us with tiny opportunities to do something for someone else, to brighten a moment, an hour, perhaps even change the outlook of people we may never know? What if we could inspire others by small acts that may seem inconsequential at the time yet ultimately - maybe without us even knowing it – somehow create a cascading momentum of kindness that ripples out, imbued with the power of a simple, transforming intention: in Joy. A $4 two piece box of Godiva. What if?
Ignorance, Not Malevolence
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CORRESPONDENCE PO Box 279 Greenwich, CT 06836
N T I N E
With COVID-19 continuing to surge around the country and in the state of Connecticut, Greenwich First Selectman Fred Camillo and Greenwich Hospital President, Diane Kelly, have resumed weekly briefings on the virus. On Wednesday, the two officials urged residents to keep their guard up as the holidays approach. " We' r e n ow a t t h e d o o r s t e p o f Than k sg iv ing w ith Christmas, and Hanukkah and New Years right behind that. While we certainly want people to get out there and enjoy themselves, and we're all happy and excited about the positive news on the vaccine front, that's still several months away," Camillo said. "I liken it to a nine inning baseball game and we're in the bottom of the sixth, top of the seventh in a tight ballgame. We don't want to lose focus and take our eye off the ball, because these next few months are going to be pretty tough." As of Wednesday afternoon, there were 104 active COVID-19 cases in the Town of Greenwich, with a 14 day rolling average of 11.5 per 63,000 -- the town's population. Since the pandemic began,
Illustrated by Wajih Chaudhry
SENTINEL
By Richard Kaufman
By Jill S. Woolworth, LMFT Spouses are more often ignorant than malevolent. Your partner’s intentions are more likely benign than harmful. The challenge is that our brains are wired to scan for danger. Our default response is to assume malevolence. He or she doesn’t care/isn’t there/is selfish/intends to hurt me. This is a hard rut to pave over in the brain once it has been well worn. Reminding ourselves that our partner probably doesn’t intend harm or neglect is worth its weight in relationship gold. It calms our thought processes and helps us choose our words more thoughtfully. Spouses are rarely as relationally intuitive as we wish they were. It helps to ask specifically for what we want. If we’re getting nowhere, we can ask our partner how to make a request that will elicit a “yes” answer. A change in tone, word choice, and timing can make the difference. This applies to everything from affection to household tasks. We each have a preferred style and time of day that is optimal for receiving requests. After years of hoping Rob would “get it,” his wife, Alfa, learned to email him about specific tasks. Rob could put them on his calendar and feel like her hero instead of a villain. Susannah prefers that her partner, Mario, and her kids send her texts. She doesn’t “do problems” after 10pm except for emergencies. Jon likes face-to-face requests from Crystal, preferably after his first cup of coffee. Learning their partners’ preferred modes of communication and assuming ignorance rather than malevolence has made their households more harmonious. Greenwich resident, Jill Woolworth is author of the book, The Waterwheel, which is available locally at Diane's Books (203-869-1515) or info@dianesbooks.com) or at Amazon.
1,367 residents have tested positive. At Greenwich Hospital as of Wednesday afternoon, there were 18 patients being treated, with none in the Intensive Care Unit. Kelly attributed this to the fact that the hospital staff has learned about the virus and successful protocols. "We're keeping people out of the ICU with the great work of our clinicians and working with the entire Yale New Haven Health System and on the protocols and treatments. Patients are doing well and they're being transferred home and discharged home in much greater numbers than before. The 18 that we have in today is not the same kind of look you would have seen in those early months. It's a very different experience," Kelly said. Kelly also said that Greenwich Hospital was well-prepared to handle a new wave. "This wave is not an unexpected wave. We have been watching our trends since the beginning of the first surge," she added. "We had a whole group of people behind the scenes estimating when we would see an increase, so this is about the time they had estimated we would see this for a lot of different reasons." Kelly noted that while there's fatigue with social distancing and wearing masks,
Calls to Action
she's encouraging everyone to stay the course and follow those guidelines. "It worked and it works. It's especially important people pay attention to that as the holidays come. It's going to be really tempting to want to be in larger groups, but it's not in the best interest for you as individuals and for us as a collective society," she said. Greenwich Hospital is currently conducting close to 200 tests per day at their outpatient drive through site. "Even though you're coming in your car, we're asking you to register on-line first so that we are not registering too many people at once, so we don't have cars circling the building. We're controlling that by knowing when you're coming in, so we can accommodate," Kelly said. Registration is on the Hospital website. Camillo praised Greenwich Hospital for doing a "terrific job." He said he's open to discussion on looking at town COVID-19 policies and restrictions to see if they need adjustment, especially since Greenwich was recently labeled as a "red zone" by the state due to a spike in cases. Greenwich COVID-19 briefings will take place every Wednesday through Jan. 6, 2021.
Radar Screen
Greenwich Green & Clean Come to Sam Bridge to create holiday baskets to hang on the lampposts along Greenwich Avenue and in Cos Cob today, Fri., Nov. 20, which is the last day to join in holiday basket making. Come on over to the nursery greenhouses located at 437 North Street between 9:30am and 5pm. Please wear a mask. Call 917-291-0426, 203-869-0220, or 203-550-5422 to sign up for a time slot. The YMCA is holding Turkey Bingo tonight November 20 6-7pm. Join in this free virtual family event featuring 10 rounds of bingo and prizes. Register at greenwichymca.org to join in the fun! Register for the Greenwich Alliance for Education's TURKEY TROT FITNESS CH A LLENGE! T-shir ts and gaiters are still available in most sizes! Prizes for posting your f itness activity to #GreenwichAllianceTurkeyTrot2020. $500 prize to the school with the greatest participation! Participating in this community event helps raise critical dollars for the Greenwich Alliance Education programs for our town's public school students. REGISTER at www.greenwichalliance.org SPLURGE is collecting food for The Food Bank of Lower Fairfield County. The collection ends today, Fri., Nov. 20. Go out to your local store and grab some of the most needed food items: Canned Tuna or Chicken, Progresso Soups, White or Brown Rice (2 lb Bags), Grape Jelly, Peanut Butter, Powdered Milk / Parmalat Milk, Breakfast Cereals, Juices (Bottled or Boxed), Pasta, Jar Spaghetti Sauce, Dried Beans, Fruit Cocktail, Mashed Potatoes and Macaroni & Cheese. Drop these items off at SPLURGE at 39 Lewis Street. Red Cross: The Battle of the Badges BLOOD DRIVE is Sat., Dec. 5 between 8:00am and 1:00pm at the Greenwich Public Safety Complex, 11 Bruce Park Drive. Join in this friendly competition by picking your favorite Greenwich emergency response organization and giving blood for their team on December 5th. To schedule your appointment call 1 800 733-2767 or go to www.redcrossblood.org Liberation Programs is collecting new winter coats for those living in their inpatient and residential care programs. Coats can be purchased through Amazon. Go to https://www.liberationprograms.org/, click on donate and scroll down to their Amazon Smile link to visit their wish list. Liberation programs is a behavioral health organization specializing in substance use disorder treatment with offices at the Greenwich YMCA and throughout Fairfield County. Shop local with Sophia Scarpelli at Sophia's: Nestled just off the Avenue on Liberty Way sits a Greenwich gem. For 40 years, Sophia’s has been a one-stop shop for gifts and costumes, attracting customers from all over and becoming known as the place to get a funny or unique gift. Customers can also browse beautiful estate jewelry that Sophia consigns, as well as handmade ornaments and stocking stuffers. Sophia handpicks everything in the store. “I try to find stuff you won’t see everywhere,” she says.
By Beth Barhydt On the radar screen this week: an annual tradition of heroes in a friendly competition to save lives. The Bat t le of t he Badges, a n annual competition between our emergency response organizations to see which one can collect the most units of donated blood, will be hosted at the Greenwich Public Safety Complex on Saturday, December 5 from 8am - 1pm. How incredible is it, that with everything else going on this year, our first responders still find the time, energy, and undaunted community spirit not only to organize this blood drive, but to donate as well? Health emergencies don’t pause for a pandemic or holiday celebrations, yet because of these, donations are needed more than ever. Each Red Cross blood drive and donation center follows the highest standards of safety and infection control. It ’s t he season of g iv i ng a nd Greenwich residents can donate more than toys and money. To schedule an appointment and support your local department please visit www.redcrossblood.org online or call 1-800-733-2767. Let's make this the biggest blood drive so far and show our support for all of these heroes who show up and rush in to help, no matter what. We can't do what they do but we show up for this.