Author: Nicole Carpenter

Navida Greifenberger has lived in Westport with her husband and almost-9-year-old daughter for 8 years. She is the founder of the Facebook Group Westport Coronavirus Info, a page that provides information to members about all aspects of the pandemic here in town. 

“I have a nine-year-old– almost nine-year-old– and have been busy with homeschooling. I wanted to be part of this project because I felt it would be nice for my daughter because she’s raised in Westport. I thought it would be nice for her to have her family at the History Museum.  

Between homeschooling, and making masks and managing the Facebook group I set up, I’ve been keeping very busy. The days are flying by. 

On Westport Coronavirus Info people discuss basically anything related to how it’s affecting the town, their lives. Social distancing was a major topic. There’s lots and lots of people seeking information on testing and where to get tested and how to get tested. Lots of people are looking at just the numbers and there is a fear factor. 

More recently, which is really sad, we’re seeing more posts of people who actually have loved ones who are sick and seeking donors for plasma donations. And then other assistance from people who have loved ones in hospitals, and they’re seeking PPE equipment. Today we had someone asking for wipes and bleach from Norwalk hospital. It’s really just a bulletin board that people are coming for help, to air their concerns, to find out information, because everything’s changing all the time. Yes, I’ve definitely seen some trends around what things are being posted as time has gone by.  

What I miss is going outside and not being able to work anymore. I do a little bit of freelance work, working with small companies helping them with their marketing and operational type issues. It’s definitely reduced the amount of work I have. I have a lot less work than I had previously. I initially provided some advice to my clients from ways in which they could take their business more online, but now they’re all just hunkering down trying to get through this. And I’ve just accepted that I’m not going to be working much through this period. I’m one of the lucky ones who doesn’t rely on my particular income to pay the bills, so I’m not too worried about it in the short term. 

I do like to see my friends fairly regularly and not being able to see them has been a big blow. I’ve been doing everything and anything to stay in touch with people. Zoom, and the Houseparty [app] that I’ve never even heard of before but mostly Google Hangouts, FaceTime, you know, anything and everything that anybody wants to use to get connected.  

I think people are understandably very worried, and you see a lot of fear and uncertainty. And I think that’s just the same as it is all over the country and all over the world. I think the one thing about this community– I’m sure it’s in other communities too– but I really did notice in this community, is that immediately as soon as things became apparent that the community had been affected, you immediately saw people stepping up and wanting to find ways to help and reaching out to people and setting up various types of support mechanisms. I’m always amazed by that in Westport. I think that whenever there’s any kind of untoward happening, everybody steps up and tries to find ways to help everybody else. 

I think in my personal life, I’ve experienced a lot of different environments and a lot of change so change doesn’t frighten me, change of circumstances doesn’t worry me. I’ve also gone through some strange experiences. I don’t really want to go into them in detail, but I’ve experienced bomb blasts and you know, listened to bomb blasts as a child and having missiles flying over my head. And I feel like those sorts of experiences kind of make you feel that when in times of crisis, you know that you’ll probably get through and you just look for ways to move forward. I think I’m more of the mindset of “okay– this has happened, and now what do we do about it?” rather than just getting into panic about it. 

My greatest hope is that it’s going to be over as soon as possible without too much disruption, which I think is everybody’s hope. And my greatest fear is just how much havoc it’s going to wreak and how long lasting of an impact is going to have. Is it that we just have to bear the brunt of it for a few months and then everything goes back to normal and the economy recovers and, people go back to their lives? Or is this just going to be a cycle that goes on for a longer period that leaves devastation in terms of unemployment and people losing their livelihood and people dying? And that’s my biggest fear is that this goes on for a lot longer than we’re hoping. “ 

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I am the Editor for CTBites, Your Guide To Great Food in CT. As you can imagine, the playing field has changed. My job has shifted from a profitable business reporting on the restaurant industry in CT to a not-for profit fundraising and support platform called  Food For The Front Lines. It started when I helped Founder Nicole Straight launch Food For The Front Lines Go Fund Me to raise money for local CT restaurants to deliver food to first responders and healthcare workers. To date, we have raised almost $30,000.  

As this started, I was concerned at first as few seemed to be heeding the advice of our local officials, but saw a change two weeks in. In launching the Food For The Front Lines program, I’ve been blown away by the level of community support, kindness, and generosity. 

I regularly check in on my out of work friends, people I know are struggling, and those who are afraid. I’m not worried about the economy or that the world will get back on its feet, because it will. My greatest fear is for my family living in Manhattan. I view this as a wake-up call. If you look at the silver lining in this global pandemic, several things become clear. Pollution is vastly improved, families are spending time with each other, and people have started to realize that Trump is a farce of a president. My hope is that people remember what they have learned in this time of crisis. 

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Stephanie Szostak, her husband and two boys, aged 17 and 13 have lived in Westport for seven years. Stephanie is an actress who recently wrapped up the second season of her show A Million Little Things on ABC. 

“Having just wrapped a show, normally I would be probably auditioning for new stuff now but obviously all productions everywhere have stopped. As an actor these periods of unemployment and waiting are something we are familiar with so I’ve decided to treat it like that—as regular waiting. I’ve had to deal with not being in control before—waiting for callbacks for example. It’s good to treat this as sort of an “off-season” like athletes and to take the opportunity to do things to be a better performer, like creating and journaling which I am attempting to do.

Sometimes, I can’t believe the volatility of my state of mind. There are days where I’m positive or functioning and just being able to take day to day and focusing on what’s in my control. I focus on just feelin  and acting slow and just being where I am–where my two feet are. And things are ok when things are like that. It’s not that I am being oblivious but I’ve limited watching news to once a day. 

There are other days when I can’t quiet my mind and that’s saying a lot because and I’ m a meditator. I meditate 2x a day. I guess we are never really in control but this is more challenging than in regular times. Your own mind can be an obstacle—thinking about the future and the pain all around. 

Other obstacles are the news, being four people in one house, together all the time. I gain energy from moments alone, and that is challenged now. It goes without saying, though, that it’s a blessing to be together with our loved ones. We say thank god we are together, and that we like as well as love each other.  

 
My husband is a financial planner who normally goes into city two to three times a week. Like everyone he works from home all the time now and he is actually working a lot, and is in touch with a lot of clients just hearing them out about and what they need. It’s interesting because you can hear from his side of the conversation that theirs state of mind range. He’ll go from one person who is optimistic and to another going through a nightmare as well people who were dealing with illness already and then this crisis has happened. Of course, it affects him but thank goodness for technology so he can stay connected to co-workers because for him going to office was important. It’s important to feel the energy of other people around you.  

One saving grace as a family has been the puppy we adopted in February. He has been such a gift.  He’s given us moments of joy and love and togetherness around him. The other day, I was lying on the ground with the puppy with my 17 year old—a tender moment that wouldn’t have happened normally. 

We’ve also drawn a lot of resilience from our kids. Kids are incredible because they are in the moment always. My younger son has a group FaceTime talk with his friends they all check in and it’s so sweet. They talk about school, have homework groups—they help each other.  

Most of all, I’m amazed at the leadership in the town and the communication we’ve been getting from very early on—it really makes a difference. I feel like that as a community we’ve really come together and everyone is respecting what needs to happen. Most of the time, people have good intentions. I believe in the good of people but some people take a little bit longer to figure thing out, to get with the program. I don’t think that’s ill-intended so I believe we have to be careful with social media with pointing fingers, denouncing or accusing. We need to talk to people directly, email if we need to say something or see something. We need to have accountability for what we say and not hide behind a screen. 

Social distancing is weighing on us all, but it will be long, so we must remember to be gentle in the way we act with one another. We need to get ahead of the mental and emotional issues that will surely arise. Awareness is everything. If we are made aware then we can step into the world with that awareness.” 

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Sheri Rabiner Gordon is a member of Westport’s Board of Finance. 

“I spend my days helping everyone get their work done, keeping the house together and endless meals! I check in on friends and family and am continuing my work on Board of Finance. It’s taken some time to adjust to virtual-only meetings. 

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I own a local department store on Main Street: Savvy+Grace. It went from a retail business to e-commerce and call in order business overnight. I am still working, shipping locally & getting the store ready for when we can re-open. 

My greatest hope is that we all see how it is easy to take things for granted. That this pandemic brings out more gratitude, kindness and love in us all. It’s hard on all of us for same and different reasons My coping mechanisms for me have been God, Family & Friends (and maybe a little more wine!-ha-ha). I won’t call it a fear but I do keep thinking of the kids and how hard this is on them as well.  

As a business owner in town, I am so grateful for the community and that it realizes how important it is to ‘shop local’. It is not just a trendy saying. I have seen first-hand, during these times….Westport means it and rallies. It is beautiful and heart-warming. I know this will pass and together, we will be stronger for it.  

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