l like many other individuals, am spending my free time cleaning my house, sorting out my belongings, weeding out unwanted items, outdated receipts, shredding ancient bank statements, donating unwanted (or in some cases non-fitting! Yikes!) clothing, removing cracked dishes, superfluous kitchen gadgets etc. One area of cleaning that I find to be especially gratifying is, cleaning out my purse.
Every mother in the free world will chime in with a yyyyyaaasssss in agreement…..we end up carrying everything in our purse. Many items are needed and necessary, others have no rhyme nor reason…..I can total finding
- 19 pens of various ink color
- 4 paper clips
- a soccer ball inflator valve
- 2 double AA batteries
- Tide laundry spot remover pen
- US Postal stamps
- my son’s adaptor cable to his iPad
- the lever to my zero-gravity lawn chair’s beverage table
- a wild assortment of Target / Home Depot / Christmas Tree shoppe receipts
- a claim ticket for luggage at a Chicago hotel (my last trip before life shut down)
- a Canadian poppy
- 3 outdated and dried out granola bars
- USB stick
- a Jar-Jar Binks lego figurine
- coupon for Bona floor cleaner
- and the list goes on….
I have also been sorting out cards in my wallet and found my New York Public Library card. It makes me think about my last visit to Manhattan, for Book Expo of America trade show in May 2017. I was with my good friend Lisa and we stopped at the NYPL. It was a sunny day, perfect weather. I had received a NYPL membership that day, available to all NY residents, though active for 3 years. (Mental note to self: must update the card on my next visit to the city.)
Thinking about the day has me stopped in my tracks. It was a great day. Lisa and I walked the Highline to Lower Manhattan, had a fabulous meal in Little Italy and an evening cocktail at the Library Hotel. It was one of the best days ever.
I find myself thinking of the photos we took that day, including of the lions in front of the NY. I remember thinking what a perfect day it was, how the marble lions looked extra majestic in the sunshine. The photo below catches Lisa’ s pride, as that her grandfather was one of the masons responsible for carving the lions.
For those whose how have never visited the Schwarzman Building on 5th Avenue, the flagship Beaux Arts building of the New York Public Library, flanking the grand staircase, are two formidable lions carved from marble are named “Patience” and “Fortitude”. Their monikers were given during the Great Depression by the mayor of the city, Fiorella La Guardia, who believed that these two qualities were essential to overcome challenging times.
Fast forward to 2021, I have located my library card, emblazoned with the lion graphic. I find myself thinking of that fun day with Lisa in Manhattan, of the carefree joy of normalcy in our lives. I find myself thinking that patience and fortitude are two essential qualities to navigate the current COVID global pandemic. The challenge of living a socially distant life, absent of gathered crowds and celebrations, sanitized in a 6-foot parameter lest contraction of the virus, has been challenging a weary on our souls for well over a year. Patience for a better time to come. Fortitude to steer through the adversity.
I find, myself thinking about this time in March of last year, as we frantically sought answers and attempted to figure out how to negotiate these treacherous times. Life has been altered in the name of safety. Now, March 2021, we are coming out of this dreary time. A vaccine available to booster our immunity against this global pandemic. March 2021 has definitely come in like a lion, as the Spring seasonal phrase goes. However, patience and fortitude were qualities which have gotten many of us through this trying time. The month of March 2021 has come in like a lion indeed.
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