Chapter 8: Community and Coloring
One chilly last Saturday of February 2022, I met up with my childhood friends Sarah, James, and Henri at the Pittsburgh's Perfect Parties in Monroeville for a discussion and activity on community, followed by a walk and coloring. "Hi, guys!" I greeted my friends. "Hi, Angel!" Sarah greeted back. We all had juice to drink. We started things off with an icebreaker on how we were doing and what we each wanted to be the most remembered by. Then, we watched a short video on community, followed by an activity on community and seeing what we all had in common. Then, we took a 10-minute walk outside the office and saw the sights and action in the city of Monroeville. Finally, we found some coloring mandelas and socialized for the remainder of group. I colored in a picture of a cat to look like my dead cat Mattie, Sarah colored in a picture of a butterfly, James colored in a picture of a lion, and Henri colored in a picture of an iguana. "I thought that video and activity on community was really cool, guys," I told my friends. "All 4 of us plus our other friends are part of the Pittsburgh's Perfect Parties community, and that includes occasional birthday celebrations like yours, Sarah!" "I remember having a really amazing birthday one year, except for the parts when you guys showed me all of those embarrassing pictures," Sarah stated. "Too bad there's no birthday cake picture that I can color in, huh?" "We are very sorry that we did that, Sarah," Henri stated. "Yeah, we didn't mean to ruin your birthday," James agreed. "That reminds me how I also keep reading that Tribune Review article about how Pittsburgh's Perfect Parties still remained in business despite the pandemic." "I also heard that Benedict died last month due to the Omicron variant of the pandemic," Sarah stated. "Is that the same former boyfriend who got suspended from school due to drugs and alcohol?" I asked. "Yes, it is, Angel," Sarah replied. "That reminds me how drugs, alcohol, and coronavirus do NOT mix," I stated. "I can't wait until this coronavirus pandemic is over for good. The Chinese cheerleaders from ghostly Wuhan screwed up these past 2 years!" "Now, Angel, let's not say that," James reminded me. "Everyone is sick of the pandemic. We just need to think of all the good things that happened to us during the pandemic, like having Game Days at the office and having an extraordinarily-cool dance anthem by Santana entitled 'Into the Night'. So no, the past 2 years were not all bad! I mean, sure, we didn't get to go out in the community as much as we used to and all, but we made our own fun activities based on what we had to work with!" "The virus itself won't go away, but all of the restrictions and worried feelings eventually will," Henri happily stated. "That's exactly what I was thinking, Henri," I stated. "By the way, we forgot that there will be a meeting followed by icebreaker games and arts and crafts, but we would prefer that just us, Carly, and her friends attend the meeting," Sarah told me. "So, you and Alex can find something else to do tonight while we have that meeting." "I will go to her Pitt nutrition group in Oakland, as they are taking a walk around the Pitt campus, and Alex created homemade "junky" versions of both chocolate chip brownies and apple crisp," I told my friends. Then, Sarah, James, and Henri dropped me off at my mentor, Jenna and her sister, Jill's apartment in Point Breeze. "Thanks for a great day, everyone," I thanked my friends. "You're welcome, Angel," Sarah replied. "Bye, guys!" "Bye!"