Staying Apart, Together: True love, a helpful pup and music to get you through the weekend
Editor's Note: This is a preview of USA TODAY's newsletter Staying Apart, Together, a guide to help us all cope with a world changed by coronavirus. If you would like it in your inbox on Tuesdays and Saturdays, subscribe here.
We made it to another weekend.
My husband has remarked a few times since quarantine began that the only thing that differentiates our home-bound days is whether or not we log on to our work computers. He's not wrong – our environment doesn't change much day-to-day and we're getting up and going to bed at pretty consistent times. But the difference between working and weekend is not one to be dismissed, especially in tough times.
Since my work and home locations are no longer separate, and since getting work and home responsibilities done is much harder in this environment, I treasure my weekends even more than I did. I love my job (which includes writing this newsletter for all of you wonderful readers), but I also find it hard not to get lost in reading bad news when I'm at my computer.
On the weekends I take a break from the internet and spend time with the family members that I live with and the ones I can only reach on Zoom. I spend time outside, I take naps, I make elaborate dinners from scratch, I watch movies and I read. Yes, quarantine is an ever-present part of my weekends – I'm not seeing friends, going out to eat or going on trips – but I do separate myself from the grimness of our situation, just a little bit.
I hope that in your weekend routines and adventures you can find some time away from it all. I hope this newsletter helps you do that.
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Today's joy
Nothing will brighten your day like this story of true love from our USA TODAY Network reporters in New Jersey.
Janet Fenner and Gregory Dabice were crowned homecoming queen and king on Montclair State University's football field in 1992. This past Saturday, they got married there.
"He was the player fraternity boy and I was the goody-goody," said Fenner, 48, a straight-A student who ran track and was involved in student and sorority government.
Dabice's fraternity, Phi Alpha Psi, followed the "Animal House" model and won the school's "Kill-A-Keg" party every year, he said. "I wasn't right for her in any way," he said, laughing. "She was too good for me and I knew it."
After their coronation, they went their separate ways, launched careers, married and had children. They both divorced in 2016.
Last year, more than two decades after either had seen or heard anything about the other, Dabice was on dating app Bumble when a photo of Fenner popped up. She had swiped right on him, charmed by his photos with his children, though she hadn't recognized him with facial hair.
"I was stunned in so many ways," he said. "She looked the same. I hadn't even thought of her in years and there she was. It was unreal." ... Dabice sent her a message: "Is that you, Janet?" and the couple met that night at a bar near Fenner's home, where they talked for hours. ...
The couple got engaged in April and was delighted when MSU staff reacted enthusiastically to their request to wed there. During the socially-distanced wedding, Rocky the Red Hawk mascot served as ring bearer, and university president Susan Cole read a proclamation , named August 1 as Janet Fenner and Gregory Dabice Day.
This quote from the groom is my favorite part of the story: "When you're almost 50 and have been around the block and you come across each other, you know: This is what I've been waiting for my whole life."
I'm not crying. I swear. Totally not crying. Read the whole fairytale here.
Today's reads
Need something uplifting to listen to? My colleague Gary Dinges picked five pandemic songs that are bringing him some happiness right now.
Looking for a weekend book? These are the 25 most popular debut novels that have published during the pandemic.
Sweatpants forever! My colleague in our Money section, Nathan Bomey, wonders if dress clothes are gone for good.
Over in the NBA bubble, the Phoenix Suns are surprising USA TODAY Sports.
Today's pet
Meet Landry, a very good boy doing very good deeds.
Wrote newsletter reader Helen Hemphill, "My son and daughter-in-law’s dog Landry has been writing emails, 'Letters from Landry,' to my 96-year-old mother-in-law who is locked down at her care facility in Sun City, AZ."
"Landry (okay, he’s not that smart, my daughter-in-law does the actual writing) keeps my mother-in-law Dorothy up-to-date on squirrel bad behavior in the neighborhood, lists of favorite foods to consume during COVID, why he can’t wait for sports to come back, and the typical holiday greetings. Here’s Landry as the Easter Bunny, partying on Cinco de Mayo with new red collar, and getting his game face on for sports!"
"Dorothy loves reading her Letters from Landry. It’s an incredibly sweet gesture from my daughter-in-law and just one more way we know Landry’s a good dog. He’s so willing to have his picture taken!"
Landry, you are an inspiration.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: COVID coping: True love will get you through the weekend
