And for some of you, welcome to your first issue of Richmond Family Magazine! During these very different times, we are mailing the magazine to some families across the Richmond area, so you can enjoy all RFM has to offer without having to leave your home (FYI, you can subscribe on our website, too). Also, some of our most loyal readers who have been enjoying the magazine for more than ten years offered to safely distribute RFM to their neighbors’ mail and paper boxes, so many of you have gotten your first issue that way. No matter how you landed here, thank you for joining us – we think you’re going to love what you find in these pages (and for future reference, you can pick up your free RFM at any area Food Lion, Publix, Wawa, Wegmans, and Whole Foods).
I know none of us could have ever imagined living this way. Like us, I’m sure your thoughts are with the families who have been hardest hit by this pandemic, whether it’s having a loved one who has been diagnosed with this illness, or worse yet, losing someone to COVID-19. Countless others have lost employment and income or are feeling the mental and emotional effects of all of this social isolation. And like you, I am in absolute awe of our area medical workers, first responders, school teachers and administrators, grocery workers, delivery drivers, and others who are working tirelessly to keep us all moving forward and toward the light at the end of the tunnel. On behalf of all of us, thank you!
All that being said, I hope you have managed to find a few silver linings in all of this since it started in mid-March. While I haven’t learned a new language or planted an award-winning vegetable garden like some others, I have enjoyed lots of simple pleasures with my family that likely wouldn’t have happened in normal times. We have completed not one but two big jigsaw puzzles together (I mean, who would have thought that jigsaw puzzles of all things would have made such a comeback?!). We also brought out some board games that had collected a lot of dust over the years, we’ve cooked a lot of new dishes together, and we have taken a walk around the neighborhood as a family nearly every day. Thank goodness this is happening when the weather is nice and not too hot or too cold! Our neighbors have been out in full force too, and we have met several of them for the very first time, even after living in the same neighborhood for more than fifteen years. One family even started hosting a physically distant brass band concert from their front lawn every Sunday afternoon – how cool is that?!
We WILL get past this time, and perhaps we will all be stronger for it. I know we’ll be even more grateful for things like concerts and the theatre, baseball games, shopping, religious services, school, and most definitely great big hugs. Until then, virtual hugs to you from all of us at RFM!
