As we approach the one-year mark of the first coronavirus shutdown in the U.S., people across the internet have been sharing their "last things" before our world changed. The last time they went to a restaurant with a big group of friends. The last time they saw elderly family members. The last trip they took. The last wedding they attended. The last time they took little things, such as walking down the street with sunlight on their bare faces, for granted.
As for me, I'm going to share about pie.
This week, a coworker casually mentioned that this coming Sunday was Pi Day (because pi = 3.14, of course). It was the first time I had to reckon with the impending anniversary of the shutdown because I instantly remembered how I celebrated Pi Day in 2020.
Baking is one of my favorite hobbies. In high school, I would show up to lunch with a fully-frosted cake for my friends, because #procrastibaking. Making something sweet and delicious is a very meditative, relaxing process. The extrovert in me loves sharing what I've made with people I love and seeing the joy and appreciation on their faces when they take a bite.
On March 13, 2020, I showed up to my office with a homemade apple pie, with a pi symbol carved into the top. It was the first time I'd baked something for my coworkers at my new job, and it was a smashing success. I was already dreaming of what treats I could bring in for Fourth of July, Halloween, Christmas, etc.
But the following week, we were told to work from home "until further notice."
For many people, 2020 was a year of baking. In the early days of lockdown, I couldn't find vanilla extract in the store for weeks because the whole world seemed to be spending quarantine in their kitchens. However, my life had a distinct lack of baking from March onward. 2020 was the first Easter I didn't bring lemon bars to my church's potluck. 2020 was the first year I couldn't make my dad's favorite peanut butter chocolate chip cookies for his birthday. 2020 was the first Christmas that I didn't stay up late in the kitchen baking for multiple parties. And I grieved that loss.
I acknowledge that these disappointments are nothing compared with the overwhelming suffering that others have experienced over the past year. However, the pandemic seemed to take away my main tool for bringing joy to others. Who wants homemade cookies from a stranger when you're spraying your groceries down with Lysol? Plus, I love a good chocolate mug cake for one, but it can't compare with the peach and blackberry bread pudding I made for a bridal shower in 2019, when we crammed 12 people in a one-bedroom apartment without caring how closely we stood together.
COVID-19 is far from gone, and we're all tired of waiting for life to go back to "normal." Nevertheless, I think one thing the pandemic has done is made us more resourceful. We can't do all the things we used to do, so what can we do with what we have now?
I'm still going to bake a pie this weekend ⎼ Niomi Smart's vegan shepherd's pie, so I can test it out on my carnivorous boyfriend who's gone (mostly) plant-based for Lent.
Many of you aren't able to use your gifts like you used to before the pandemic, but they haven't gone away. Even in this age of masks and hand sanitizer, you're still capable of bringing others joy. And believe me, we need joy now more than ever.
Carpe diem !