Baughman McDowell, Kelci

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6/9/2021 The 6 o'clock - Santa Clara Magazinehttps://magazine.scu.edu/magazines/2021/the-6-oclock/ 1/2SHARE YOUR STORY ABOUT BROWSE STORIES SUBMISSION TIPS EVENTSThe 6 o’clockKelci Baughman McDowell Research & Instruction Services Coordinator, Archives & Special CollectionsListenI lifted up my laptop to position the camera for a group picture, which these days equated todoing a screen shot of the Zoom window. It was October 30, 2020, and I was dressed like ahippie from the 1960s, heavy beads weighing down my neck and dark glasses obscuring myvision. Penny was wearing a black cape and a pointy witch’s hat with a virtual background oforange jack-o’-lanterns. Lloyd’s face was light with pancake makeup, black around his eyes, reddripping from his lips, and he smiled big to flash his vampire teeth. Out of all of us, Eric was themost flashy: He had already donned several masks and brandished several props. Now he hadon a white wig à la Andy Warhol and a scepter topped with a multicolored electric bolt dancing ina globe. “1, 2, 3… Cheese,” I exclaimed as I let go of my fingers on the shift + command + 4 keys on mylaptop. We all burst out laughing, giddy from the festivities of our virtual Halloween party onZoom, overly excited about something so mundane. It had been nearly seven months since the pandemic started and only once had we missed theweekly Zoom happy hour we dubbed “the 6 o’clock” that we had started in March, 2020. As themonths wore on, we continued to meet every Friday, making accommodations for Christmas,00:00 00:006/9/2021 The 6 o'clock - Santa Clara Magazinehttps://magazine.scu.edu/magazines/2021/the-6-oclock/ 2/20 Comments Santa Clara Magazine 🔒 Disqus' Privacy Policy Login1t Tweet f Share Sort by NewestLOG IN WITH OR SIGN UP WITH DISQUS NameStart the discussion…?Be the first to comment.Subscribe✉ Add Disqus to your siteAdd DisqusAddd Do Not Sell My Data⚠ RecommendNew Years, and other holidays. Even when I got in a blow-out fight with my step-mom inDecember, I called into happy hour on my phone, sitting in my car in the dark driveway for threehours. It would not be an exaggeration to say us four got each other through the pandemic.After hearing about vaccine developments on the news for months, our turn finally came to getour first shot; three of us went to the Kaiser clinic at the Koret Gym at USF, and one of us wentto a local pharmacy. It finally seemed safe to make plans to meet in person: first, on Good Friday2021 we went to Aquatic Park for an afternoon stroll and to Cole Valley for an outdoor dinner,wearing masks when not eating and socially distancing as much as possible. Then, a coupleweeks later, all four of us fully vaccinated, we met in the Castro on a Friday night for dinner anddrinks. As each of us arrived and met Lloyd at a table on the sidewalk outside bar 440, wehugged for the first time in over a year. For Lloyd the sensation of a tight embrace lasted farlonger than the hug itself—he kept remarking, “I can still feel it in my body!” Penny and I huggedeven though we had shared a Lyft over. Lastly we spotted Eric making his way up Castro Street.When he reached the table I went in for a tight squeeze. He was warm from walking down fromhis apartment up Market Street.“You’re the first human I’ve touched since March 2020,” he exclaimed as he pulled away, hisface lighting up with joy. “That felt amazing.” We both teared up a little—me, because I washonored to be the first, and Eric out of sheer emotion at the power of human contact. ShareRelated StoriesAn Extended VacationSCM Sta , 02 Jun 2021 3 min readThe Importance ofHuman InteractionSCM Sta , 02 Jun 2021 2 min readThe Baby Bump NobodySawSCM Sta , 01 Jun 2021 3 min readOne Fateful Day inMarchSCM Sta , 01 Jun 2021 2 min readStay Connected    Submit Your Class Note!1 1As an increasing number of Americans are vaccinated, an ethicalreminder to see beyond borders from an @scuethics fellow:  https://bit.ly/3uOBIeEFOLLOW  About   Class Notes  Update Address   Contact UsTwitter  YouTube  Facebook Santa Clara University ©2021. All rights reserved

The 6 o\u27clock

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