The pandemic was a terrible time for all of us...many of us lost friends to Covid and many of us were isolated and kept apart from all but our closest family. I even had to work from home for a year.

During that time I started relying on drive-through windows to grab lunch because I was too scared to go inside any business. Even my health club was shuttered for weeks. I'm sure you have similar stories.

Then one Wednesday I decided to drive up to the window at the Dairy Queen in Wappingers Falls because I really liked their chicken strips ...to say nothing of their great ice cream treats that my grandkids crave!

When I ordered my lunch this friendly woman's voice came over the speaker....confident, informative and most of all friendly 

Did I mention her voice was friendly? I needed friendly more than the food really. Always authentic without going overboard or trying too hard

When I got to the window, there was the manager Alex, dutifully wearing her government ordered facemask. We chatted...nothing earthshattering just small talk. It was so enjoyable given the sad state of my world at that time that I made it a regular visit. Every Wednesday...same order...same chit chat! I even wished Alex's mom a happy birthday on WHUD! Now years have gone by...the pandemic is long over (although some people are still catching it) and I don't go to Dairy Queen that often. But I did yesterday. And I recognized Alex's voice immediately. Not surprisingly she's still friendly....but even when I couldn't see it behind the Covid mask back then, I could just tell she was always smiling. Its not an exaggeration to say this young lady helped get me through the pandemic just by being herself .I'll never forget her kind voice and how she always asks about my wife and grandkids. Something good did come out of the Covid era...Alex, the Queen of Dairy Queen!