COVID-19. Coronavirus. PPE. N-95. Social distancing. Flatten the curve. Community spread. Just a handful of months ago, if these terms were said to me, I’d probably be confused. Now, though, they have all since become household words. In the world of news writing, we call these “buzzwords,” meaning just the word itself can conjure up a specific time, item or event.

Not unlike trends of the past, the buzzwords tend to come and go with the cycle of the news. I have a feeling that these words might be staying past their welcome, though.

This pandemic has been confusing. I don’t know how else to describe it, and maybe that’s my own buzzword for COVID-19: confusing. It seems none of the folks we typically rely on to keep us informed can agree on things surrounding this virus. The CDC, WHO, even FOX and CNN, are all seemingly on different pages at times. It can be hard to keep up.

With all of the misinformation and contradicting messages, we, the public, seem to be the last to know what’s going on. From one city to the other, the rules on reopening might look different. Living so close to the state line, we see that from state to state, the opinions on what phases of opening we should be in can differ greatly.

Masks aren’t necessary. Masks will stop the spread. Tests available only for those showing symptoms. Everyone can get tested. Do this. Don’t do that. Wait, let’s go back to doing this again. No, never mind. It’s left a lot of us shaking our heads, wondering what we should be doing to keep ourselves and our loved ones healthy.

Are we recovering from the pandemic? Is herd immunity a thing? It’s hard to tell, with more testing available all the time, and with distancing becoming shorter and shorter between us. The one thing I do know is this: my own curve is certainly not flattening with all of the social distancing taking place. Much like the “freshman 15” people experience when heading off to college, we can call this the “COVID-19.”

For up-to-date information regarding COVID-19 and what we should be doing here locally, I recommend www.jacohd.org for those not in Kansas City proper, and www.kcmo.gov/city-hall/departments/health for KCMO residents. It’s confusing, but if we work together (and wear our masks when out in public), hopefully we can make these buzzwords a thing of the past.

If I’m completely honest here, I felt as though the 2019-20 school year would never come to an end. But, it did. Eventually and finally. Though, if your student wasn’t a member of the graduating high school class this year, school ended quietly, without a lot of fanfare (or, really any).

My son, Michael, finished his eighth-grade year at Martin City Middle School last month. The ending to his junior high experience was unlike one any of us have ever witnessed before. Instead of signing yearbooks on those last days, our students were signing off of Zoom calls and returning electronics, drive-through style. There weren’t any hugs; it just sort of stopped. Weird, right? But, I’m sure it felt even weirder for our kids.

Our school districts now are tasked with preparing for the unknown. Much like last March, getting ready for the next school year to begin in August is a job that I don’t envy at all. Will our schools be back in session come fall? What will school look like? Will our children be required to wear masks? Or gloves? Or hazmat suits? Will in-person education be optional? Would it be possible for some students to stay home while others are in the classroom? What will sports and other extra-curricular activities look like? Or, as my son wants to know, will he be able to wrestle during his freshman year?

See what I mean? Our school districts simply were not prepared for this pandemic. No one really was, in all actuality. Our schools, and our kids, likely took the hardest hit. They are all working to better plan for the future, but knowing that things can change drastically day-to-day, it is a next-to-impossible challenge to face. The Grandview School District is working to tackle this head-on.

Superintendent Dr. Kenny Rodrequez is spending time hosting discussions with community members, parents, staff and students to determine Grandview’s next course of action, or plans A, B, C, D, and so on. As if preparation for the unknown is possible, Rodrequez and his team of education professionals are determined to cover all the bases, known or otherwise.

This week, the district will be distributing a survey to parents, which will ask the questions I asked above, in order to garner feedback on what those next steps might look like for our students. It is my understanding that they are looking for honesty, however brutal those responses might be. They are aware of the mistakes they made in the last quarter of the school year. They are also hoping to learn from those issues and implement plans to overcome inconsistencies, all while engaging students in a healthy, active learning environment, which will likely look very different from what we are used to seeing.

Again, not a task I envy. Personally, I hope our students, especially mine, can head back to school in August. My son learns better in a structured environment, and frankly, he needs to socialize, too. Regardless of what schooling looks like this fall, our school districts, our principals, our teachers and our students need our support. It truly takes a village, whether in person or virtually.

This year, our family closed the book on middle school. We’re looking forward to high school. I just hope it can be as normal as possible for my kid.

I had every intention of writing my column about the results of the recent local election this week. I have things I’d like to say about that, which, honestly, are things you’ve all heard before. I’m hopeful that those who were elected to serve understand what they are getting themselves into, and that they fulfill the terms they will or have sworn to complete.

I could go on and on about this. I have before. However, I feel as though there is something more pressing affecting our community, and our nation, that I think if goes unaddressed in this space I will be doing an injustice to our readers.

Like many of you, I watched the video that has gone viral of George Floyd’s death in Minnesota. I had to look away as the police officer, with his knee to Floyd’s neck, nonchalantly, with his hands in his pockets, allowed this man to lose consciousness and die. It makes me sick, and I would much prefer to imagine a world where things like this simply don’t take place.

But, I’m not that naive. I’ve been around long enough to see racism first-hand. I’ve covered enough stories of injustice. And, I’ve written in this column that changes need to be made and those changes need to start in our own homes.

I’m just a white girl who was raised in a diverse community to love my neighbors and treat others as we want to be treated. I’m raising my son much the same way.

I don’t have the answers. I wish I did, but I believe the answer will be a collective effort from all of us. We have to work and live together, regardless of our prejudices or beliefs. Let’s get back to basics: the golden rule and the ten commandments. It’s not hard. There’s nothing complicated about equality.

You might have noticed a new name on the front page this week. No, we didn’t hire a new reporter...though we may be looking for one of those as soon as life begins to return to a new normal.

On Saturday, May 23, in the backyard at my mom and dad’s home, surrounded by just a few special guests and our children, Joseph King and I were married. We had this date picked out long before social distancing and pandemics were a reality, and we decided that, if it was possible, we’d still like to get married on that day. So, we did.

The ceremony itself was very short and sweet (less than seven minutes long, according to our iPhone recording), but it was perfect for us. We read our own vows, and exchanged our rings that have been sitting in a drawer since Christmastime, just waiting to adorn our hands. My mom and my brother signed our license, and we began the next chapter in our lives as husband and wife. Hopefully, in a few months, we can celebrate with all of our family and friends, but for now, we’re honeymooning at home (and work) until we can take a real one.

Along with marriage comes a name change. It’ll probably take me longer to get used to than everyone else, and I’ll be calling myself Queen Mary King, because why wouldn’t I? But, I’m happy and excited to begin this next phase of my life with a man who loves me dearly, and even wears my favorite color (and talks about my love of purple in his vows) to make me smile.

This Mary got her Joseph, and she married him. It’s like a modern day fairytale story, only this one ends with me being the one who lives happily ever after. It doesn’t get much better than that. Thank you for celebrating along with me this week.

Yours truly,
Mrs. Mary K. King

As the clock struck midnight and we celebrated the start of a new year, 2020 looked promising. Personally, the beginning of 2020 meant the end of the holidays, and a time where I can shift my focus on what will happen in the coming year.

For all of 2019, I was planning my wedding to my future husband. Since we’ve both been married before, we decided on a small gathering of family and close friends in my parents’ backyard (which happens to be park-like and gorgeous in the spring). Spending a lot of time going over dates and trying to please those who are closest to us, we decided on Memorial Day weekend 2020; a time when family from out of town can stay for a little while and the weather (and flowers) will likely be as close to perfect as we could ask.

Then along came coronavirus, and little by little, we saw our plans deteriorate over the last month. I’m not heartbroken, and I’m not going to become a bridezilla and demand that things still go my way. But, our plans have had to change. It is what it is, and we’re just going to have to be okay with that.

I consider myself lucky that I didn’t have a big soiree planned. There aren’t flower orders to cancel or event spaces to find. I know that there are a lot of other people in that boat; some who are having to rearrange their plans entirely.

I’m hoping we don’t have to do that. So, I’m crossing my fingers that the county government opens back up just in time for us to grab a marriage license and begin our happily ever after. The party may have to wait, but it will still go on. May is the month I’m going to marry my best friend, and come hell, high water, or COVID-19, we’re going to make this wedding happen...one way or another.

I have always been a bit of a social butterfly. When I was little, I made new friends pretty much everywhere I went. I was never shy, and willing to strike up a conversation with anyone who would pay me mind. So, when the Internet gods (or Mark Zuckerberg) invented social media, I was practically first in line to sign up for an account.

Like many people my age, I started off with a MySpace, or a Xanga (remember that?), but eventually Facebook took over, and I was right in the mix with some of my oldest friends, and some new ones, too. Right around the time Facebook became popular, I was a stay-at-home mom to my infant son. Of course, I’ve had to explain to my now-14-year-old Michael that his dear mom is in fact older than Facebook, or Google, or even the iPhone (much to my chagrin, of course).

Like many social media users, I’ve seen the good and the bad. However, in times of social distancing and putting our health and wellness first, I, like many, have turned to Facebook and the like to get my friend fix. Now, not only is my social media account being used to keep in touch with long-distance relatives and people I care about, but I’m also using it to keep tabs on my local friends, too. And it’s been refreshing, in a way, to see that other families I know are going through the same struggles as we are (I feel like I’m constantly cooking and doing dishes at my house and I miss going out to eat).

Besides the “social” aspect of social media, it can also be a tool for information, news, and entertainment. It is also very, very powerful. Last week certainly proved that testament to be true, as a woman in Texas posted a photo of a class ring from Ruskin High School found on the playground of the daycare school where she works. Within just a few hours, the owner of the ring was found, all thanks to the power of social media. This just goes to prove how small our world truly is these days.

My friend Liz Ogle over at Grandview Parks and Rec is certainly no stranger to social media. She is the creator of the infamous Grandview and Martin City Business Rant and Rave page on Facebook, which has garnered over 6,000 active members since its inception a few years ago. Though, her activity just within the last week may have topped it all for her Facebook career.

Knowing that families were desperate for a way to celebrate the Easter holiday while maintaining social distancing guidelines and keeping everyone healthy, Liz decided to don a bunny costume, pose for some pictures, and then personalize signs (using Photoshop, naturally) for hundreds of community children. You can see an example of one she made for a little girl named Autumn on page 8.

This little community project she came up with turned out to be not-so-little. In a matter of days, her post reached nearly 4 million viewers, from here in Missouri and much, much farther beyond our state’s borders. I’m sure she had no idea how much her bunny suit would be seen, and how very needed that was for families all over the world right now.

That’s the power of social media. I suppose we never really know what people are going to like or respond to. Whether we use it to share our dinner ideas for the evening, or we want to reach thousands or millions of people with our content, social media is an avenue that continues to provide us with a little bit of connection in a time when disconnection is critical to our survival.

If you don’t already follow the Jackson County Advocate on Facebook, I’d invite you to give us a like. We appreciate all of our readers, whether online or in print, new or old school, and we thank you for your support. While social media can be powerful, we feel that knowledge is even more so. Keep on reading and supporting local journalism. We can’t do this without you.

Whether you’re staying at home these days or you’re heading off to work at your essential job, you’ve probably noticed that spring is in the air - finally. On the nights that it’s been warm enough to sleep with the windows open a bit, I’ve been greeted in the mornings with the sounds of birds singing and whistling their springtime tunes.

With so much uncertainty in our day-to-day lives, it’s been somewhat refreshing to know that despite what may be going on in the world around them, the birds are still waking up happy each day. That has definitely lifted my own spirits these last few weeks. I’ve enjoyed spending some time out on my deck, watching the cardinals dart from tree to tree, or seeing the hawks fly well above everything else off in the distance. Seeing them from afar is one thing, but this spring, I’ve gotten to experience the joys of springtime birds up close and personal at my house.

A few months ago, I purchased a new wreath for my front door. It is synthetic, but made to look as though it has twigs and vines and flowers surrounding it. I proudly hung it up and have enjoyed seeing it when I come home from work each day. Apparently, however, someone else really liked my new wreath, too.

For a week or so, I kept noticing what looked like small pieces of my wreath on the concrete stoop below. A time or two, I’d walk up just in time to see someone fly out of the wreath. “You stay out of there and quit taking pieces of my wreath with you,” I’d yell at the little thief.

I noticed, though, after some time, that it appeared to be the same bird I was seeing, and it looked like she was making herself at home. Sure enough, she made a cozy little nest, right in the top of my new wreath on my door. By the time I found it, there were already five little eggs nestled inside.

My Mama Bird, as I have affectionately named her, deemed my home safe and warm enough to also be her home, at least for a little while. She comes and goes, and we try to disturb her as little as possible. When she sees us heading for the door, she’ll fly away, but never far enough where she can’t keep an eye on her babies. She’s a good Mama Bird, and I feel lucky to be able to watch my own little nature show right outside my front door.

Since I first saw the eggs, one has disappeared, and two have hatched. Mama Bird remains at home most of the time now, only leaving the nest to go searching for food or to make way for the humans to pass through the doorway. She is loyal, loving and ever-present for her little ones.

Mama Bird has reminded me during this crazy time in our world that even though there is sickness, uncertainty and sadness, spring is still in the air. The birds are still singing their songs. And, there is beauty in the most ordinary of places; you only have to look right outside your front door to see it.

Happy Easter and happy spring. I hope you’re able to sing or whistle a tune with someone, feathered or otherwise, too.