On the arrival of Sneezy Jones and other positive events in 2020
Sneezy Jones joined the Stay family in July.
On seven Saturdays in 2020, the Stay team divided and conquered, offering our wares in two places at once.
But only July 18 will stick with me for the rest of my life, and not for anything directly related to Stay.
My son, Jack, was with my wife, Sara, at Market on Chocolate in Hershey while I was at Clipper Magazine Stadium for Creatively Lancaster’s makers market.
“Dad, we’re adopting a cat,” Jack texted me.
Her name is Sneezy, he said. A woman who fosters cats for the nonprofit Operation Paws for Homes, had packed Sneezy and two other kittens in a stroller, showcasing them to potential adoptees at Market on Chocolate.
Two days later, we welcomed Sneezy Jones (Jack added the second name, ostensibly to give our house cat more street cred) into our household. We fell in love immediately.
Sneezy is sweet, insatiably curious and social. She’s loyal like a dog, right down to playing fetch with a tiny plush pizza.
Silver linings to 2020
There’s no denying that 2020 presented challenges, but without the pandemic we might never have countenanced adopting Sneezy. Her arrival in our lives is one among multiple reasons why, despite COVID-19, we can find silver linings to the year that was.
In January, Sara and I moved into downtown Hershey. The pandemic caused a business shutdown that delayed our renovation and contributed to our being without a functional kitchen for 20 weeks, but it also provided lots of time to work on other improvements to our 1931 bungalow. We love where we live.
In April and May, we offered “Free Tee Friday,” giving away shirts at a time that called for a collective pick-me-up. We also joined separately with Yellow Bird Cafe in Harrisburg and with the Cherishburg blog to give away tees and spread the Stay brand.
Cancellations wiped out most of Stay’s spring schedule, but Market on Chocolate not only commenced on June 6 but added the month of September to its weekly schedule. Its 17-week run anchored our year.
We returned to Harrisburg Flea, Central Market in York and Creatively Lancaster and made first-time appearances with Lancaster Marketplace, The Find: York, Forty Elephants Vintage & Handmade Market, Vintage Revival Market and Odd Ones Bizarre. Masks and social distancing were small sacrifices to make to once again connect with customers and fellow vendors.
We made solo appearances at Steele Hair Salon in Hershey. We teamed up on a sock drive that collected 104 pairs of men’s socks for Shepherd’s Closet in Hummelstown.
We began a sponsorship of WITF, reflecting our support for public broadcasting and selfish desire to connect Stay with that audience.
Time with family
Just as I won’t forget the day Sneezy entered our lives, I will linger over a particular conversation I had at our final show of the year. It was at Steele, three days before Christmas, and I was sharing with a woman much of the sentiment I’ve noted above.
She listened intently, only her eyes visible to me behind her mask and cold-weather clothing. I asked how her year had been. Without a trace of self-pity, she allowed that it had been a tough year.
She had been diagnosed with breast cancer and only in November had completed her final radiation treatment.
I’m grateful for her healing and hopeful for her outlook. Likewise, even in what will be a tough winter for the battle against COVID-19, there’s the promise that vaccinations will help turn the tide in the year ahead.
If I’ve learned one thing in 2020 it’s to better appreciate the little things, especially time spent with my family.
That includes those early mornings, sitting on the old radiator in our back room with Sneezy Jones, watching the sun rise on another new day.