This adage, the title of this narrative, tries to convey messages of accentuating the positive, looking for good in every situation, looking for good in people who may have made poor choices, and trying to find/make something positive in times that may not look so good. The pandemic of 2020 through 2022, and the lingering effects of it, which have changed lives in numerous and various ways, did just that.

The pandemic and its necessary mandated restrictions, began exactly one week after our Browns Backers of Jamestown’s After Season Dinner. Life changed that March 14 in 2020. Education went remote, employment temporarily switched to unemployment for many, “distancing” rose in word usage, and store shelves began to empty, as transporting goods regularly became troublesome, and there were rushes by customers to stock up on certain products, which may have been caused by fear and panic.

It was a time when restaurants and bars were first required to close, then limited in the numbers they could service after receiving the okay to reopen, a time when people were singing two choruses of “Happy Birthday,” while washing hands, and a time when the words “hand sanitizer” were spoken more than “good morning.” It was also a time when the word “quarantine” was included in many conversations people had in passing, on our mobile devices, or in our social media outlets.

Pandemic was a time when Sally and I stopped attending church at local parish buildings, and started attending Mass at the “Church of the Recliner” (Channel 307) located in our living room. It was also the beginning of having to get creative, in finding matching masks to accessorize our daily outfits, which were required in places we could enter.

It sounds like a bleak, lonely, hopeless time, but as the adage states, “Every cloud has a silver lining.”

During 2020, spring to fall, especially at the beginning, Sally and I took to the road when the weather cooperated, driving to Barcelona Beach in Westfield, sometimes as many as five days a week. We’d arrive somewhere between 7 and 7:30 a.m. Sally would walk the shoreline looking for glass, and other things we could use as home decor, I’d do my daily crossword puzzle/jumble/cryptoquip while enjoying a good cigar, listening to the laid-back, tropical music offered by Jimmy Buffett, etal., on Sirius XM’s Radio Margaritaville. Sally would usually be back in an hour and we’d then sit, listen to the tranquil, sometimes harsh, sounds of water and wind, with Radio Margaritaville in the background, occasionally chatting, but just enjoying each other, Mother Nature, and the peacefulness of the experience.

We’d head back to town around noon, when more people arrived to do what we did, and we’d had enough sun for one day. On days we couldn’t make the drive, we set up our driveway with our beach chairs and Radio Margaritaville, and enjoyed each other, and the quietness of the situation in our “Barcelona Annex.” It was definitely a positive in a somewhat difficult time.

Also, during this time, I started, once a week, hitting up the “Cheers of Jamestown” (a.k.a. The Pub), with my COVID Cugino, Sam, for lunch, whereby we got to get to know well, Todd (a.k.a Coach), the Bartender, Bruce [a.k.a Paul (from Cheers), and a.k.a. Brian (from anonymous), who later we found at the Lakewood Rod & Gun Club where he’s been our bartender, and Mike Bird (a.k.a. Frasier), publisher of this periodical, all three whom Sam and I have added to our already huge fraternity of friends, and not forgetting to mention Sammy (a.k.a Sam) the manager of our community’s version of the place “where everybody knows your name.” What a great continuing experience it’s been despite the not so good pandemic. (Side note and appendix to this positive, is that Sam’s wife, Christine, and my Sally have gotten to know each other, and we’ve all four had many great, side-splitting, times together since the pandemic started.)

Another positive that came out at the beginning of this pandemic was when one of our Browns Backers’ Members (Gary) called me and suggested we come up with a way to get Browns Masks made to sell, and donate the profits to a local charity. He knew of a division of The Resource Center who could make them, so I went online, found two different styles of Browns material, which our club purchased, and within a week we had enough masks to put up for sale, which sold out within two weeks. We raised $500, and after a great suggestion by Gary’s brother, Mike, we agreed to donate the money to our local chapter of Meals on Wheels. A little more silver with which to line a dingy cloud.

There are times, my temperament, and reactions to events jump first, and I don’t consider much good can come out of any situation that starts bad. Fortunately, I have an amazing woman in my life who reminds me to take a deep breath, a step back, and look for the silver within those dark clouds, reminding me that many others are experiencing more pain in their lives than I’m experiencing in mine.

So, as a result, and in these few paragraphs, I can definitely say that during a life-changing time that was/is catastrophic for so many, there were/are still some silver linings that may have brought a few smiles, a little laughter, and some special people to all our lives.