I’m beginning a series at Bacon right now – “Life in the Time of Coronavirus” – with installments each day for the next few weeks. I’m doing this at least in part to distract and occupy myself. My husband is in quarantine in our house with fever and body aches. He’ll be fine! There’s no reason to think otherwise. Our oldest daughter – with her history of asthma and pneumonia – is quarantined in her apartment in Atlanta with a bad cough and fever. Emory tested her for Covid-19 today, results available Monday or Tuesday. She and my husband were together last week for spring break; he played golf while she and her friends went to Universal Studios (insert emoji you can imagine I was feeling). They were together each day for breakfast and dinner. (Also imagine SLIGHTLY FREAKED OUT emoji.)
Here’s a message I received today that I’d like to share with you, Nashville readers and otherwise. Other posts will feature interviews with friends, medical professionals, poets, and others on the topic of Life in the Time of Corona.
Good morning Friends & Family,
Only 8 days ago, our team at Henrietta Red was still without power and looking for ways to use our skill sets in the community, to alleviate stress, health, and hunger concerns. (#Tornado) By the time we cleaned and prepared for reopening on Monday (March 16), it was clear we had a new set of challenges rapidly approaching.
In order to do what we do best, keep our business open and staff engaged, we have elected to stay open with extra sanitation measures and social spacing practices. We are also taking pickup orders (starting today) and will roll out delivery (in partnership with Strategic Hospitality) as early as Tuesday.
I am emailing you personally to let you know about another initiative we are rolling out this week from our fledgling catering company, The Party Line. With access to a closed commercial kitchen and distributors, we are offering prepared weekly menus with reheat instructions for your and your family of 2, 4, or 6. This will begin this Thursday, March 19th and continue for the following three weeks, at least.
We realize these are trying times, so we’ve tried to keep the price points as reasonable as we can, while still maintaining the quality of ingredients you’ve come to expect from Henrietta Red and The Party Line. This means not only supporting us but supporting many of our local growers and purveyors as well. We are accommodating dietary needs and modifications, as well as suggestions for additional grocery items and value added products.
If this goes well, it’s certainly something I would love to continue to offer in the future, but for now it’s a way to keep you fed and our small team engaged. If you’re not interested, you can support us by forwarding this email to your community and sharing with anyone you know who may be interested.
Here is a link to our ordering page: https://www.thepartyline.co/familymeal
Feel free to reach out to me personally for any additional information or email hello@thepartyline.co for questions / help with orders.
We continue to be at your service and can’t wait to see you on the other side.
All my best,
Julia Sullivan
Henrietta Red
Praying for your family.
There is no greater gift. Thank you. Xoxo
Jennifer— I cant believe all this! Praying for you and your family— as your neighbor just behind you, please let know if I can do any errands for you! I must say I am looking forward to reading your updates regarding all this, and hope it’s just the flu!
Dear Cindy – Thank you!! You are so kind – and I am deeply grateful. I am so glad you are close by. But for now – you should probably stay as far away from us as possible!! Xoxo
What a thoughtful way to use your platform during this time. I will pray for all of you and look forward to your next update. There is no finer resource than Emory.
Thank you so much for your prayers, Shelby – and I take comfort in her being at Emory right now too. Sending love and warmest wishes to you, Brent & your girls!! Xoxo
So sorry Gus and your daughter are sick. Hoping they feel better and get well soon – and don’t give it to you! Will look forward to your daily posts as we will all be going pretty stir crazy!
Take care
Take good care yourself, Laurie! I loved our unexpected time together earlier in the week! Feels like a long time ago already, doesn’t it? I feel like the world has changed. Thank you so much for your care & concern and being in touch… Xoxo
Oh Jennifer!! So sorry to hear this! We enjoyed seeing them this past week, and I will be keeping a close eye on John!
Keep us posted!! And hope they get well soon!!
Xo, Missy
YES please keep a close eye on John! I wish I could have enjoyed time with you all last week, Missy. Most of all, I hope you stay well!! Love, ~Jennifer
Dear, dear Jennifer, thank you for sharing your worries and angst. I’m SO sorry about Gus and Ruth and hope and trust they’ll be fine. And I hope and pray that you’ll be fine, too. John and I send our love from our self-quarantine. We look forward to following you on your journey. Our prayersare going out every day for everybody in your family.
Allison
Thank you so much for sending your love, Allison – I feel it! And please stay well, you and John!! Love, ~Jennifer
Reading this at 2:00 am because, well, I’m still tossing and turning at 2:00 am and figured I should do something else! Love that you’re doing this series. We need it! I so hope Gus & Ruth are better soon!
Oh Caroline. None of us need to be tossing and turning at 2 am. And yet – we do. I hope so much you will have a peaceful, restful day ahead. Thank you so much for your care and concern. Xoxo
Jennifer – my goodness. I know you are worried. Will add both of these Puryear people to my prayers. Knowing them both, I’m betting their stubborn streaks will step in. Thank you for this new series – distractions for us all are good. My puzzle stash seems to be full of Christmas options which will get a bit weird I think. Love to all of you, L.
Laughing!! We have plenty of stubborn to go around in this family!! Also – the idea of you doing Christmas puzzles in March is very – CORONA. Sending love to you & yours, we’ll stay in touch – xoxo
Oh Jennifer, what you did not need was more to worry about. Gus and Ruth are both young (by my standards) and in good places to have this horrid virus. Take care of your self and know that we will all be looking forward to your daily posts. With love and prayers, Jean
Dear Jean, Your warmth and concern mean so much to me. Thank you. Today I am taking care of myself by reading poetry. More on that soon. I hope you will also take good care of yourself in this frightening time!! Xoxo
The Henrietta Red portion of this post inspired us to go there today for brunch. Hand sanitizer was freely available upon entry. My crabcake was divine! We both ate more warm, sweet monkey bread (a first for this culinarily sheltered couple!) than we should have. While we weren’t the only patrons, the scarcity of clients allowed plenty of social distance and we thoroughly enjoyed one of our favorite spots! A rare indulgence in an otherwise pretty spartan weekend.
Oh Beth, this sounds heavenly!! I’m such a fan of Henrietta Red. But worried about our local businesses in the coming weeks and months. I’m glad you could support today. Sending very warmest wishes & love – Xoxo
Jennifer, Jack and I will pray for you, Gus, and Ruth. Such an unsettling time. Thank you for sharing with us.
Thank you so much, Elizabeth – it means so much to me. To all of us. Stay well! xoxo