We Need John Prine
What is required of us is that we love the difficult and learn to deal with it. In the difficult are the friendly forces, the hands that work on us. Right in the difficult, we must have our joys, our happiness, our dreams: there against the depth of this background, they stand out, there for the first time we see how beautiful they are.
Rainer Maria Rilke
I have covered the days after hurricanes, floods, and tornadoes; not for what was torn down, but for the people who rose up. Survivors, standing in front of homes without roofs and walls, everything they own in trash heaps beside the road, checking on each other. Waiting in line for a meal, or removing a tree on a stranger’s house with a chainsaw, still, they thank God they are alive. They talk of helping their neighbors, black or white, rich or poor, Democrat or Republican. Often for the first time.
The worst of times brings out the best of people. When hearts and hands are all we have left, generosity fills them.
This COVID pandemic is different. There is no five-day forecast. No landfall. No storms passing or waters receding. There is no smell of snapped pine trees. No muddy brown high watermark. No sound of generators providing temporary power or bulldozers pushing debris. No removal. No rebuilding. Just the President warning it is about to be a rough couple of weeks, and scientists estimating between 100,000 and 240,000 Americans will die.
During the perfect days of spring that make you thankful to be alive, we must stay away from each other to save each other. There are no comforting hugs, no holding hands or patting backs. No sharing of food, tools, or labor. Those of us aching to help can only stay home.
The virus once so far away is now in Fairhope, New Orleans, and Mobile. Our restaurants and businesses have locked up one by one. Downtowns are empty, and signs in windows say “curbside service,” “shopping by appointment,” and “temporarily closed.”
It hurts to feel so helpless. It hurts to watch a video of an old man standing outside a nursing home window singing “You Are My Sunshine” to his wife, telling her “Jesus loves you and we love you, too.” It hurts to see friends missing anticipated trips and milestone birthday celebrations. It hurts to see schools cancel proms and graduations. It even hurts to watch hospital parking lots filled with honking horns and flashing headlights to thank the medical staff.
Reporters call this the “new normal.” It is distressing not knowing when this “new normal” will end, or what has changed when we emerge from our shelters. Will social distancing make us appreciate each other more, or introduce us to a more comfortable life of carrying out dinner and staying inside?
"Never be sad in life, even in times like this," said Carlett Martin, in an interview for Our Southern Souls. "We can't alienate ourselves or be too distant for love. Keep encouraging each other to do the right thing, and take care of ourselves. One day we will come back together in communion. Don't go down the path of depression and loneliness. Come back to the surface. Let's live on purpose."
Communion. The sharing or exchanging of intimate thoughts and feelings, especially when the exchange is on a mental or spiritual level.
We are finding new ways of communion. Eleven-year-old Jonah Kuit wrote chalk messages of hope and encouragement on the sidewalks at the Fairhope Pier. "You'll never walk alone." "Hang in there." "Spreading the joy." "Look for the helpers." "We're in this together."
The Crescent Theater is closed, but the marquee says, "We Love You Mobile. Stay Safe." The Little Free Library in the Lost Garden on Dauphin Street has been converted into a Blessing Box where you, "Take what you need for today, leave what you can to help someone else."
We are praying for healthcare workers from our cars, and sewing masks and scrubs from our homes. We are giving free lunches to hungry children at restaurants, schools, rec centers, and from front porches.
We are taking care of those who take care of us. Southern National restaurant in Mobile announced that it was temporarily closing its doors but giving the "hospitality and service industry comrades" complementary to-go meals. The Alabama Contemporary Art Center is donating 60 percent of all new reciprocal memberships to relief for “service industry folks” until April 6. The Band Together online benefit raised more than $6,000 for those behind the scenes of Mobile music.
Central Presbyterian church converted it’s Tuesday Food Pantry to a drive-thru with pre-boxed food. Cars begin to arrive at 9 a.m. and line up for blocks down the street for the 1 p.m. distribution.
Best friends Mary and Martha (not their real names) talked during the hours waiting in line. This is Mary’s fourth time at the food pantry. The retired nurse never thought she would be here, but she is grateful for the fresh fruits and vegetables that she can’t afford anymore. She demanded the best care for her patients until her body rebelled, turning her into a cancer survivor with diabetes and a pacemaker. She now decorates for weddings and parties at her church to keep her mind on the positive instead of the pain, giving most away to people who couldn’t afford the decorations.
“It is hard to admit I need this help because I did all of the right things,” Mary said. “Life throws you curves, but God's got me and that's all I need. I am here to be a testimony.”
Martha met Mary when she accompanied ladies from her church to visit Mary. Martha stayed and talked, and the two became best friends. Martha’s home is a shelter for friends and family. She cares for elderly neighbors, and helped her brother, who was addicted to crack, get clean. His twin brother never recovered from alcohol addiction and is dying in the hospital. Increased Coronavirus precautions ended family visitation, so Martha may never see her brother again. Martha’s husband was furloughed from his job and doesn’t know when he will get paid. She is grateful for the love and food from the church that helps her get by.
The American Lunch Truck, a non-profit free lunch program sponsored by the owner of Five and Chuck's Fish, serves free lunches, including chicken salad sandwiches and a Mediterranean salad with grilled chicken. Before COVID-19, the truck gave out free lunches in Mobile three days a week. Today, it is five days a week to meet the needs.
"This is our purpose and why we are here," Five and Chuck’s Fish manager Ben Loggins said, while handing out lunches at Cathedral Square. "Serving our community is more important than making money right now. We will be here about noon every day this week."
Around the corner, Shane Long wears a dragon costume and rabbit ears, calling himself Dragon Bunny, to break the boredom while walking his dog along Dauphin Street. He worked for Lo Da Bier Garten for four months before the shutdown, a job he misses already.
"The Bier Garten owner, Matt Golden, is amazing,” Long said. “I came back from Panama City to Mobile, and love living downtown. Mobile is a hidden treasure. It is quiet here now, but there is also serenity, which is beautiful. I hope this doesn’t last forever.”
This can’t last forever, but it will get worse before it gets better. Sunday was a warning sign when COVID-19 killed country singer Joe Diffie and hospitalized John Prine.
In 2016, Stephen Colbert recorded a duet with Prine that was never broadcast. Before they sang “That’s The Way the World Goes Round,” Colbert told Prine, “This is just for the Internet, unless something terrible happens and we need to cheer up the world on the TV show.”
Four years later, something terrible has happened, and last night Colbert played that recording on his show. We need cheering up. We need music. We need laughter. We need each other. We need John Prine.
“That’s the way that the world goes ‘round.
You’re up one day and the next you’re down.
It’s half an inch of water and you think you’re gonna drown.
That’s the way the world goes ‘round.”
