At the beginning of the pandemic, children around the world started making rainbows. Six-year-old Eva, who lived next door to me, joined the fun and made rainbows for her neighbors, adding her own message, “Let’s all be well”. I placed one in my front window as did many on my block. I so enjoyed Eva’s drawing that I made her a thank you note which I attached to the cage around the lemon tree which grows between our two houses. I hoped she would see it from her window.

 

For almost three months, I put a note on the lemon tree every day. I reached out to friends and family to participate and Eva received messages in different languages, including one in Braille! Messages came from Cuba, Iran, Japan, and Ethiopia.

 

Sometimes we talked while I was near the lemon tree and Eva was in the window, sometimes with her parents and her cat. Some days this was my only in-person interaction with anyone during the pandemic. As you would imagine, these times were very special to me.