Petaluma Profile: Checking in with ‘Profile People’

There’s no doubt, we live in “interesting times.”

So we thought we’d check back with several previous Petaluma Profile subjects and ask them to share the unexpected consequences of the shelter-in-place reality they are living in today.

The biggest change was with Rev. Jeremiah Kalendae. No longer the minister of the Petaluma Unitarian Universalists, he’s now the Minister at the UU church in Santa Monica - a city which, like ours, is on mandatory lockdown.

Kalendae, who served many years as a hospital chaplain, counseling people and their families at the end of life, tells us, “The most unexpected challenge, personally, in the congregation I am now serving, is people dying, and being unable to visit them in the hospital, and then having to create memorial services that are entirely online for our members and friends. I never imagined circumstances such as these.”

Cara Wasden is the public speaking coach whose fifth graders gave outstanding presentations at the Toastmaster’s speech competition last year.

“What has been unexpected,” Wasden says, “is seeing how well everyone I’ve talked to is doing. Most people I’ve spoken with are doing remarkably well, and I’m so happy that is the case. I wish I could say the same for me.”

For the past 25 years, Wasden has struggled with chronic daily headaches. Until now, she’s understood how to cope with it.

“I usually get through the pain each day by being out and involved in the community, by helping others, by bringing smiles to their faces,” she says. “That’s what brings me joy and helps me get through every day physically, emotionally, and mentally. Without these outlets, I’m struggling. I’ve had a bad headache every day for a week now, and I’m a wreck.”

Wasden offers some valuable advice to our readers.

“Now’s a good time to check in with people you know who are suffering with chronic pain,” she says, “because it’s likely to affect their emotional state more than it ever has before.”

Hawaiian outrigger canoe coach “Uncle Sam” Madeiros is really missing his “regular” life.

“The most unusual incident that has happened to me and my spouse is not being able to socialize and coach our keiki paddlers after 28 years of doing it three days a week,” he says. “We feel lost [even though we are] being asked to not leave our home or property … for our benefit because of our ages [74 and 68].”

In contrast, 11-year-old published novelist Josie Campbell’s family is staying in place at their 1924 farm house, where, her mother tells us “the family has come together like never before.

“Everyone is getting along super peacefully, we are all working together to make things better in our family, it’s kind of like being on a big retreat,” she says. “It has been one of the best things that happened to our family in a long time and everyone is super surprised. The street that we have driven on for years, we are actually walking on now, and seeing so many beautiful things that we never saw before! It feels like we’re in a different place every day.”

Bianca Lucchetti is an international wine consultant, and she has also observed some obvious changes.

“On a positive note,” she says, “I’ve noticed people are reigniting relationships and reconnecting on a more intimate level. Whether it be checking in with work colleagues, reaching out to long-lost friends, or engaging in an introspective moment with yourself.”

She also loves seeing the innovative ways people are interacting.

“The winery I work for, Silverado Vineyards, is posting videos from our winemaker up at the vineyards, and we have some very cool wine pairing videos coming out soon, to keep people engaged and help lighten the mood,” she reports. “Personally, I’ve done Pilates over Zoom, I partook in a deductive sake tasting over FaceTime, and had a virtual happy hour with foreign friends. I’m trying to stay positive and active, and support my community wherever I can.”

PBS television’s wine, food and travel host Leslie Sbrocco has also found this to be quite the strange time.

“Eerie, really,” she says, allowing that increased focusing on the family is a byproduct of the sheltering. “Our teenage son is remote schooling [at home}, and we get to see him all the time. Sit-down dinners are mandatory, and we have time to catch up and talk. I try to avoid the news cycle expect for once a day to catch up to keep stress levels in check. One thing is for sure, my closets and cabinets are cleaner than they’ve ever been!”

Sbrocco’s advice?

“Stay safe, stay calm, and sip on.”

David Hightower, author of the locally bestselling illustrated satire, “The Sun Also Sets: A Seussical Indictment of Trump,” enjoys telling us, “I walked into the room last week as my wife was watching one of the White House briefings where Trump was saying we had plenty of tests to go around – only to be followed by Fauci apologizing to those people who were having difficulty obtaining tests. As I walked in the room my eldest, Bodhi, says to me, ‘Dad, the guy from your book is lying again!’ I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry!!”

The Right Spot’s founding mentor, Marlene Cullen, is delighted to tell us that her daughter, Rachel, started an online book club, and chose ‘The Wizard of Oz.’ They are reading L. Frank Baum’s original version, and meet twice a week, using Webex.

“The surprising part is the deep, meaningful conversations inspired by the book,” she says. “For example, the woodsman wanted to marry ‘one of the Munchkin girls, who was so beautiful that I soon grew to love her with all my heart,’ which led to a conversation about what it means to love someone and how we are attracted to them at first because of their looks and then we fall in love with the person inside.”

That topic easily shifted to how Cullen’s own parents met and why they love one another.

“And how my husband and I met, and how our love has changed since we met in 1966,” she says. “So, the unexpected result is that the three of us are growing close by having this type of intergenerational conversation we normally wouldn’t have had. The opportunity to share our thoughts and feelings has been priceless.”

The lessons learned and shared from these “check-ins” make it clear that even though our front doors are shut tight against that nasty virus, we can still stay in touch with our family, friends and neighbors.

(You can reach Gil at GilMansergh@comcast.net)