On this Thanksgiving Day, we seem to love more deeply, to cherish more profoundly

We have built a new routine of life while longing for the days of normal activities.

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A couple in New York celebrated an early Thanksgiving with friends last Sunday by having dinner together via Zoom.

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We cannot go to our favorite restaurants, but the two of us sit together every night and share our meal in our home.

We cannot visit with family or friends and hug them. but we can see them and talk to them through Zoom, looking at their loving faces.

We can’t go to the grocery store, but we have grocery delivery down to an art form.

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We do not have the pages of our calendars filled in, but we sleep as long as we wish and stay up late into the wee hours of the night enjoying whatever we feel like doing or watching during our nightly pajama party.

We cannot honor those we have lost by attending their funerals in person, but we are there on Zoom or by other virtual means to grieve, honor and love into eternity and support family and friends.

We have built a new routine of life while longing for the days of normal activities.

We have paused to appreciate one another in new ways, profound ways, ways of incredible gratitude.

We are beyond grateful to our doctors and nurses, to the entire medical community, to our delivery companies, to our police and firefighters, to our city workers, to our grocery workers, to our mail carriers and staff, to all who keep us supplied and safe, to all Americans who wear masks, to those who are creating the vaccines.

We are pained for those who are spending their last elderly years in a pandemic and we consistently reach out to them to raise their spirits and to let them know they are not alone.

We seem to love more deeply, cherish more profoundly, see more clearly, and hope more intensely.

And we welcome back America with the pride we once knew and the hope we now have.

Elynne Chaplik-Aleskow, Lake View

Thanks to our tenants and neighbors

I’ve never done a traditional list of things I’m grateful for, but 2020 is clearly different. This year challenges our capacity for gratitude.

I am a housing provider, which makes me especially thankful for the blessing of home, especially in a year when staying home saves lives.

In that spirit, I say thank you to our tenants. Thanks to those who step up to pay when they can. It allows my company to keep our buildings safe and clean without cutting quality or staffing. Thanks to residents who talk honestly with me when they are having difficulty. Thank you for respecting your neighbors. Thank you for asking what can you do to help someone in your building with COVID.

Thank you to my fellow housing providers. Our industry has shown great empathy and grace to our tenants. Period. I do not know of one housing provider that hasn’t been willing to work with a tenant facing a hardship.

Thank you to our staff for being sympathetic and understanding to our tenants and their concerns. Everyone should thank them for working longer hours, keeping our buildings clean, with a positive attitude, especially in stressful and higher risk environments.

Like all of us, I am trying to stay positive and see the sunny side, the glass half full. We will get through this and we will always continue to work with our tenants to make sure they are provided a safe and comfortable home, during the holidays and beyond. I look forward to the day when all my tenants can celebrate the holidays safely with all their family and friends — to the day when we can all celebrate having regular days to get together safely.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Ron Abrams
Silver Property Group
Edgewater Uptown Builders Association
Neighborhood Building Owners Alliance

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