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<DIV style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri'; COLOR: #000000">
<DIV>Greetings to all!</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I received the following email last night as it was forwarded to those
that
receive the Blind Vine.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>After reading, I contacted Debbie Azzarone to ask permission to forward
to
all on the NFBNJ distribution list. She agreed.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Thanks Debbie for sharing.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Joe </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>We care. We share. We grow. We make a difference<BR>Joe Ruffalo,
President
<BR>National Federation of the Blind of New Jersey <BR>973 743 0075<BR><A
href="mailto:nfbnj1@verizon.net">nfbnj1@verizon.net</A><BR>
<DIV
style='FONT-SIZE: small; TEXT-DECORATION: none; FONT-FAMILY: "Calibri";
FONT-WEIGHT: normal; COLOR: #000000; FONT-STYLE: normal; DISPLAY:
inline'><B><A
href="http://www.nfbnj.org">www.nfbnj.org</A></B></DIV></DIV>
<DIV>
<DIV
style='FONT-SIZE: small; TEXT-DECORATION: none; FONT-FAMILY: "Calibri";
FONT-WEIGHT: normal; COLOR: #000000; FONT-STYLE: normal; DISPLAY:
inline'><STRONG>Raising
Expectations To Live The Life You Want!</STRONG></DIV></DIV>
<DIV>
<DIV
style='FONT-SIZE: small; TEXT-DECORATION: none; FONT-FAMILY: "Calibri";
FONT-WEIGHT: normal; COLOR: #000000; FONT-STYLE: normal; DISPLAY:
inline'><STRONG></STRONG> </DIV></DIV>
<DIV>
<DIV
style='FONT-SIZE: small; TEXT-DECORATION: none; FONT-FAMILY: "Calibri";
FONT-WEIGHT: normal; COLOR: #000000; FONT-STYLE: normal; DISPLAY:
inline'><STRONG></STRONG> </DIV></DIV>
<DIV>
<DIV
style='FONT-SIZE: small; TEXT-DECORATION: none; FONT-FAMILY: "Calibri";
FONT-WEIGHT: normal; COLOR: #000000; FONT-STYLE: normal; DISPLAY:
inline'><B>Subject:</B>
Blind Vine: The year the earth stood still.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV></DIV>
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style='FONT-SIZE: small; TEXT-DECORATION: none; FONT-FAMILY: "Calibri";
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<P class=MsoNormal>And it’s not over yet.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p><FONT size=3></FONT></o:p> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal>Hello Viners,<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p><FONT size=3></FONT></o:p> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal>How would you describe this year?<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>To me it was like a sudden change in the rotation of the
earth caused everything to stop, slow down, shake our reality, and tossed us
into a parallel universe we were not prepared for.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>It felt like in a 24 hour period I was being rushed out
of my
second home, VLANJ, told I had better get as much toilet paper and Clorox
wipes
as I could get my hands on, separate myself from friends and loved ones, and
don
a mask or risk facing sure death.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>Schools shut down, shops and restaurants closed their
doors,
Dr visits became virtual or non-existent. It was phone calls only or total
loneliness.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p></o:p> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal>All we heard each day on the news was the list of latest
death totals and cases of Covid-19.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>All we prayed for was to not get a call that someone we
knew
contracted it and passed away, but the phone calls came, and I’m sure we all
know at least one person whose life was taken by this horrible
disease.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p></o:p> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal>The perfect circle of life became a jagged and fuzzy
puzzle
piece and didn’t fit in anything we once perceived as normal.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>Babies took their first breath without their father being
allowed to witness it. The elderly took their last breath alone in a
hospital or
nursing home without their loved ones holding their hand.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>Students missed their graduation ceremonies, brides and
grooms couldn’t have their planned wedding celebrations, little kids who don’t
understand why had no birthday parties, and there was not a damn thing
we
could do about it.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>Summer holidays weren’t celebrated with picnics, parades
and
fireworks were canceled, vacations were scrapped, and after that long
summer,
the schools we hoped would reopen in September couldn’t.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>Will there be a Halloween for the little ones? We can’t
vote
the way we always have. Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, and Christmas dinners with
family is up in the air and anyone’s guess.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p></o:p> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal>People who only had several months left to live didn’t
get to
spend those months with their grandchildren, or do the things they wished to
do
while they still could. They didn’t get their last summer.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>This is the part that hit my family personally, and makes
me
feel like this was a cruel joke that can’t be fixed.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p></o:p> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal>BUT…<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p></o:p> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal>On the other hand, along with the sadness of the past6
months, there was a beautiful thing that happened while we weren’t
looking.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>Being consumed with sadness, severe inconvenience, daily
disappointments and fear, we took a while to see the beautiful light that
rose
from our humanity.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>Friends and neighbors began calling to offer to pick up
food
for us at the grocery store, neighbors that didn’t often stop to chat were
now
commiserating with each other as we took out the garbage and grabbed our
deliveries that sat on our front porch. This turned into an opportunity to
meet
the people who share our block, but are not often home to chat
with.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p></o:p> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal>Meetings and Church services that I hadn’t been able to
attend for a long time due to my husband’s illness, and inability to drive
me
to, became virtual, and I was again able to participate.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>Our hero staff at the VLA of NJ worked their little butts
off
creating a series of Zoom classes to keep us connected and informed. Nothing
beats being together in person, but without their efforts, our days would
have
been desperately lonely and incredibly empty.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>You guys never stopped checking up on Lenny and me, and
that
made such an enormous difference.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p></o:p> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal>I’m not being a Polly Anna here, but people’s whose lives
never crossed paths now were sharing something. We became more open and more
concerned about each other, even strangers we never gave a second glance to
became our partners in this fight for a return to the reality we once knew
and
terribly missed.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>People I never met, but occasionally spoke to on my town’s
FB
page would post something like; “Hey guys, I’m at ShopRite and they have
Lysol,
anyone need some?”<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>People who knew of my husband’s infirmity from FB posts
only
were messaging me to see if they could help me in any way.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p></o:p> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal>I guess what I’m taking way too long to say is we must
always
look for any silver lining in even the suckiest of clouds.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p></o:p> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal>I’m not going to deny that I hate that my husbands last
few
months were robbed of the joy of being with his grandkids, and I was
deprived of
those months with them too. I can’t get that time back, and it makes me mad
as
hell.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>I’m sad that family and friends were unable to travel to
NJ
for his funeral due to having to quarantine when they arrived, thanks
Governor,
and I’m sad that people who were older or who had conditions that made it
too
dangerous for them to attend large gatherings couldn’t, and I certainly
understand, but he still had a large group of people come, so I am grateful
for
that. If he had passed too much sooner, he wouldn’t even have been permitted
to
have a wake at all, and for that I am very fortunate.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p></o:p> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal>However, and this is a big however, if this doesn’t end
soon,
I fear what will happen.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>How is this going to effect the young children missing
out on
the best part of their education, social skills and making lifelong
friends?<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>How will people who poured all they had into their small
business ever recoup?<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>Will the political blame game concerning this virus
further
divide an already divided country?<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>And for me personally, and I’m sure I’m not alone here,
will
the depression that has begun to creep in get worse?<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>I need people. I need to touch them, hug and kiss them,
sit
with them at lunch again.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>I need to laugh with them in our VLANJ
classes.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>Who is going to make fun of Tom and keep him in line if I’m
not next to him in pottery to do it?<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p></o:p> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal>I need to be with you all again. I don’t know if I can do
this without you being physically nest to me.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>I know your thoughts and prayers are with me, and for
that I
am the luckiest person, but I want more. I need more, and I want to give you
more too.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p></o:p> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal>So 2020, you can’t leave soon enough for us, and you had
better take all the crap you brought with you when you came away with you
when
you leave. You’ve been one bitch of a year. You can leave one thing though,
leave the caring we humans mustered up despite your desire to kill that
too.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p></o:p> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p><FONT size=3></FONT></o:p> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal>Your Blind Vine Team<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p><FONT size=3></FONT></o:p> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal><I>"A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart
and
can sing it back to you when you have forgotten the words."
-Unknown<o:p></o:p></I></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p><FONT
size=3></FONT></o:p> </P></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></BODY></HTML>