POUR YOUR The alternative to feeling sorry for yourself is keeping busy A community speaks... What we learned and what we hope to do. In this section of our magazine, we opened up our pages - by invitation - to select members of our community to “pour their hearts out” regarding the past and the future. We understand that it was a difficult year behind us...the past meant different things to different people but we hope that 2021 and the future will be much better and prosperous for all of us. Here is what they said: Mary Turner Stoots is the safekeeper of Reynoldsburg’s historical legacy. She is President of the Reynoldsburg-Truro Historical Society and is the Editor of The Courier, the society’s newsletter. The Coronavirus is new to the younger generation, but as old as I am, I remember the Polio Virus. We all went to the Reynoldsburg School auditorium in the mid-1950s. Not the Livingston campus, but the old school building on Jackson Street, now the Hannah J. Ashton School. Back then, it was the only school in town and housed all the grades from first grade through high school. Kindergarten was optional and was held in half-day sessions at the Grange Hall and the Methodist Church. Hundreds of children were Best of Times, Worst of Times It was a normal day in March 2020, when we received urgent calls from two universities telling us that they were closing due to Covid-19. We changed our schedules to move our three kids back home; the beginning of our family of five quarantining for almost a year, and the end of being empty nesters. We were disappointed that we were no longer empty nesters. We were sullen and sometimes salty at the empty cups again being left on tables and the increased laundry. And oh my, the momma cooking duties had to ramp up again, with cooking collard greens, cornbread, baked chicken, fried fish, BBQ ribs, crock pot meals, and etc. But, we prayed, dusted ourselves off, pulled up our britches, accepted the change, and settled back into our previous supportive Crafter family routine. We had been learning how to let the parental reins go, while helping our children become independent. It was a delicate balance. We were still responsible for paying their bi lls. But, the kids had had autonomy in deciding what to buy, when to study and how late to stay up. We were learning how to become confidants and advisors to them, and not dictatorial parents. It was challenging, but we were slowly and subtly helping them into adulthood. When they returned home, I felt a familiar urge to lead and protect. Without reflection though on how my children might have grown and changed, there were tense moments in our home as it appeared to them Reynoldsburg Magazine • Spring, 2021 Odella Lampkin-Crafter is a lawyer and retired Franklin County Domestic & Juvenile Court Magistrate. She is also Content Advisor to Reynoldsburg Magazine that their newly found, and welcomed, independence was disregarded. Through discussion, we soon accepted that all five of us were on a different trajectory of shock, disbelief, and sadness. Spending 10 months in close quarters with our young adult children, with no opportunities to flee to a movie or dinner out with friends, ironically, my husband and I gained a closer relationship with them. There were/are more opportunities for conversation, discussion of social issues, and to reinforce our family values. Corona virus - It was the best of times; it was the worst of times. assembled in the school auditorium. We ascended the short stairs to walk across the curtained stage and received an oral dose of the vaccine. I was lucky, but my cousin wasn’t. Johnny is the same age as me, but he contracted the polio virus at the age of three months and has been in a wheelchair his entire life. I never considered him disabled. He does everything the rest of us can do. The only difference is that Johnny sits while he does it. Last year, I was recuperating from cervical spine surgery, so I didn’t notice what was happening in the world outside. When I was finally ready to explore the great outdoors, the door was virtually locked. I’ve always been an optimist. The alternative to feeling sorry for yourself is keeping busy. There’s an abundance of tasks you can accomplish from your desk at home. I’ve been disabled since 2011, so finding something to do is a piece of cake. 17
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