Reatha Grey: My plans just fell through last night. I was going to go over to my grandson’s family’s house because they have big holiday parties. At first I was excited about it, and I thought “Oh! I want to go and be around people!” Then they started talking about how the Covid was rising, and I thought “Oh. Maybe I’ll just have them bring me a plate out to the car.”

So when I got the cancellation, I was kind of relieved. Having 30 or 40 people over your house is probably just not a good idea right now. And certainly not someplace that I should be.

CW: What are your rejiggered plans?

RG: I was thinking about doing Zoom calls, believe it or not. I went to a Zoom wedding this weekend and it was great! I was thinking, at first, “I don’t know, a Zoom wedding — how fun could that be?” But they were in the backyard, and they filmed them doing the vows. And it was very sweet to watch. I’ve seen more stuff over Zoom over the last few months than I probably would have gone to in person.

My grandmother used to tell me this, and I didn’t really know what she meant, how she was getting lonely. And all of her friends were going away. And as I get older, I realize, you start losing friends. That was one of the things about the commercial that kind of touched me. You don’t get to go out and meet people that much anymore. And I kept up with technology, so I do Zoom and FaceTime and all that stuff. But there’s nothing like an old-fashioned handwritten note. And I thought, that would be nice, to look out my window and have a friend that’s kind of a pen pal.

CW: What were your Thanksgivings like growing up?

RG: I miss our family Thanksgivings. We had wonderful Thanksgivings when I was a child. The children did a talent show at the holiday dinners. Most of my relatives are in-laws. I come from a small family but we became a big family with all these in-laws.

It’s California, so we never had bad Thanksgivings or Christmases. The kids could play outside. It was always a beautiful day. I didn’t understand people from the East Coast that would put on all of these layers of clothing to go to Christmas and Thanksgiving dinners because I had never experienced winter.

Source: New York Times

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