Building Bridges

Treasures

"Oh, my stars! Look at you!" Catherine Delaney's smile was hidden behind a blue paper mask, and the clear protective glasses she wore covered the delighted crinkles at the corners of her tired-but-still-twinkling gray eyes, but she still managed to radiate pure joy. The sight of her daughter and her wife, even if only over FaceTime, was enough to keep her going, a reminder of the beauty that still existed, despite the virus that had turned every hospital in Seattle into a combat zone these past few weeks.

Tears filled her eyes, but she blinked them back to keep her lenses from fogging so she wouldn't miss a second of the show as Anna stepped back, phone in hand, and motioned for their little girl to twirl around. Josie was eight going on sixteen, and she loved to dress up, almost as much as Anna enjoyed having a daughter to spoil that way.

Giggles filled Catherine's ears as Josie spun, cutting through the coughs, the beeps and hums of respirators, and the rustling of paper gowns as other nurses rushed by to check on the never-ending flow of patients. Catherine remained aware of the action, but for just a few seconds she allowed herself to focus only on the adorable girl blurring into a cotton candy cloud of pale pink taffeta and silk ribbons on her phone.

"Perfection," she sighed. "You really outdid yourselves, as always. I hate that I can't be there."

"We hate that you can't be here more!" Josie and Anna replied in unison. It had become their mantra, their ritual in every conversation, since these video chats were the only time they'd spent together in days. Though she took every precaution to keep herself safe, Catherine had begun staying with a friend and fellow nurse closer to the hospital to lower the risk of exposing her family to the virus. Four staff members had already tested positive in the past two days.

"Do you think Gramps will like it?" Josie asked, nervously checking her caramel colored curls in the phone.

"Stop primping. You look just right," Catherine told her. "And you look so much like Grammy when she was young. Gramps will absolutely love all of this. It'll be the best socially-distanced virtual spring dance in history."

"And I told you I'd clean out the attic," Anna chimed in, giving her wife a 360-degree view of the newly-organized shelves.

"Wow!" Catherine exclaimed. "Remind me why I let you wait til the first day of spring to do this?"

"Because you love me," Anna smiled. "And you put it on the calendar for today."

"The only way to get anything done is to put it on the calendar!" Catherine saw the top of Josie's head as she jumped up to get in on the family discussion. The scheduling of projects was Catherine's speciality, while Anna's was usually procrastinating and finding more fun things to do, like getting Josie ready for this dance with her grandfather.

"But, if it hadn't been for spring cleaning, we'd never have found your mom's dress, and all of these treasures for your dad," Anna said, holding up a stack of old letters and photos. "We haven't even begun to go through them all, but wow, could your mom write a love letter!"

"My parents were definitely in love." The tears were threatening to fall, but Catherine had to hold it together and get back to work.

"Okay, enough mushy crap." Anna saw the struggle, and knew her wife all too well. "Go save the world so I can get this girl ready for her date!"

Catherine laughed as Anna lowered the phone and Josie puckered up, leaving a pink lipstick kiss on the screen. They all waved as Anna clicked to end the call.

She looked at Josie and then at the lipstick on her phone, shaking her head. Josie just giggled and shrugged.

"You're lucky you're cute," Anna teased. "Let's fix the lips and find you some earrings."