It Takes 6 Weeks to Develop a Habit…Right?

Hi <<First Name>>,

6 weeks to a habit right? By all accounts we should be well versed at this whole “stay at home” process. I was even feeling a little more confident in my daily structure last week. I headed out for the every-2-week grocery store visit which usually rattles my nerves.

I was pleasantly surprised at the ease in which I navigated the arrows on the grocery store floor, found almost everything I needed & even got to catch up with my son’s baseball coach from an appropriate 6 ft distance, masked in the produce aisle at 6:30 am.

I helped a client with an emergency in-person visit last week, attempting to manage the worsening pains that come with 3rd-trimester pregnancy. I was able to provide some relief and teach her partner home management techniques; all of us behind masks, extra-sanitized, and me gloved up even more than usual! (If you’re in a jam and we can’t work through issues via telehealth, I am working with emergencies on a case by case basis).

I’ve had patients find their groove in-home workout routines, even getting to collaborate with some awesome trainers I know in other states. With virtual as the norm, my local patients can “see” some of the best postpartum exercise coaches in the country without leaving their living rooms. It’s been a gift.

I was starting to think I was getting this pandemic thing down until Thursday when it came to a grinding halt. I learned that one of my landlords had passed away from COVID related illness a few weeks prior, after a several week hospitalization. I’ve had more friends recently lose family members, mostly in NJ and NY, but this was the first person I actually knew.

Who cries over their landlord? Apparently me. I can’t say I knew him especially well, but I can say that whether he knew it or not, he was one of the first people that believed in me to start my practice. My clinic space was used for storage for over 10 years. My landlord was a “collector,” the kind who lives for the monthly Saturday Civitan sales at W&L High School.

My office space was floor to ceiling stuff from Chemistry books and sombreros to hard hats and computers. It wasn’t for rent at the time, but I mentioned I was looking for a place to practice. When my landlords first showed it to me, I was speechless, and not in a good way. A few days passed and I couldn’t get it out of my mind. The bones were there in the chaos. Two blocks from our house, next to my gym- the space was perfect. There’s nothing I love more than to take something that seems utterly complex and make it simple and approachable.

See the before..

I took my husband back to look at the space a week later, somehow convincing my landlord that he should give up his precious storage so I could fulfill a dream to live, work and contribute to my community. Whether he knew it or not, by saying yes, he was one of the first people to believe I could do it. A few months later, he sat at my kitchen table and we signed my lease. It was official. My dream had a home.

See the after…

For 2 years I”ve loved being in my space and making it my own, helping patients take complex problems, making them understandable and overcoming them together. I have always enjoyed seeing my landlord out and about in our community, whether it was grabbing lunch at the Italian Store between servicing his properties or running into him at the Metro 27 Diner, us celebrating our kid’s birthday, him out with his community of friends.

This was the dream; as big as Arlington is, to be able to live, work, and serve with my neighbors and friends. Because of him, I’ve been able to make that dream a reality and I”m forever grateful. I never got to tell my landlord what his decision meant to me. I hope by sharing it with you, it’s enough.

For the newsletter this week, I had planned on doing a quick blurb on Pandemic Posture (maybe some of you wished I had!) This is usually the part of the newsletter where I give tips or some inspirational insight. I don’t have one this week.

I want to thank each of you, whether you realize it or not, who have shown that you believe in me by trusting me with your care, your questions & sharing your stories. It is an absolute privilege to contribute to people’s lives in the way that I do. I cannot and do not do this alone. It is because of people like my landlord who said “yes,” that I can keep pushing forward to make an impact locally in my hometown and beyond.

Stay safe.
-C