The notecards hanging on bouquets from a Chicago flower shop carry similar messages: “I’m looking forward to celebrating in person.”
“The grades are not sad,” said Kate Prince, co-owner of Flora Chicago on the city’s North Side. “They are hopeful.”
On this Valentine’s Day, Americans are looking for ways to celebrate love amid so much headache and isolation as the coronavirus pandemic extends past their one-year anniversary. Some cling to hope, seen in the most vulnerable and frontline workers being vaccinated, in loosening restrictions on restaurants in the worst-hit places, should the numbers begin to decline. But the death toll is still rising to half a million in the United States and many remain closed in their homes.
Prince said florists are struggling to keep up with the onslaught of requests from people trying to send memories from a safe distance.
“We are devastated,” she said.
Phones are ringing off the hook in restaurants in cities that have loosened restrictions on indoor dining just in time for Valentine’s Day, one of the busiest days of the year for many restaurants that have been devastated by closures designed to reduce the spread of food. virus.
In Chicago, the mayor eased restrictions on indoor dining this week. After limiting restaurants to 25% capacity and 25 people per room, restaurants should now remain at 25%, but can serve up to 50 per room.
The Darling restaurant has been full for this weekend and for weeks.
Sophie Huterstein, the restaurant’s owner, said that COVID-19 allowed the 2-year-old restaurant to do the impossible: make people happy to agree to a 4pm reservation.
“People are being very flexible,” she said.
They are also on this Valentine’s Day ready to do something else during a weekend when the high temperature will hit teenagers and the low will drop well below zero.
“We have 14 greenhouses and people are leaving with complete ski equipment,” she said.
In New York City, the America Bar restaurant in the West Village is also packed for Valentine’s Day, with a long waiting list and high demand for the newly allowed 25% capacity for indoor tables, said David Rabin, a partner at restaurant. More seats, along with the governor’s decision to allow closing hours to change from 10 pm to 11 pm, allowed him to give more shifts to his workers.
“For us, it’s a welcome gift,” he said. “It has been great.”
The NYC Steak and Lounge Bar on the Upper East Side is also packed. Owner Tony Fortuna says some of his customers don’t dine indoors and he understands, but for those who have been clamoring to go back to eating at restaurants, 25% is a good start. This gives people a glimpse of normalcy at a heartbreaking moment.
“It leaves everyone motivated, we see a little hope,” he said. “It’s all about perception: you see people leaving and moving and making everyone feel in a different mood.
In Portland, a 55-year-old married couple has special plans for Valentine’s Day.
Gil and Mercy Galicia have barely been out of the house for almost a year since the blockades began, said their daughter, Cris Charbonneau. They had seen their family together, three children and six grandchildren spread across the country.
Like many elderly people, the year was especially difficult for them. They immigrated from the Philippines in the 1960s and have lived in their home on a half-acre site for over 40 years.
Mercy, 80, is a cancer survivor and was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s. Gil, 88, used to take daily walks at the mall to stay active, but hasn’t done that in a year. He fears that isolation has hurt them and does not know how much longer they will be able to live alone.
“We are wasting years, COVID stole that precious time,” said Charbonneau.
They don’t have a computer. When the vaccine became available, Gil called everywhere and failed. Charbonneau was on a video call with them on Thursday and saw a tweet from a local news station that the supermarket near his home had opened online inquiries.
She was struggling to get two appointments. She was not paying attention to the meeting. She said she booked them for Sunday, February 14.
“It’s Valentine’s Day!” his father exclaimed and smiled at his wife.
“What a great way to celebrate my love for you.”
They hung up. Their daughter cried.
“That’s what we needed,” she said, “a little hope.”
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Babwin reported from Chicago and Galofaro from Louisville, Kentucky. Associated Press journalists Tom Hays and Julie Walker contributed from New York City.