Our first Loli Valentine’s Day 2021

So I get a text from the neighborhood squad, telling me Loli had set up shop at the club house.

A table with treats at the center and she doubled up the tables so they were social distanced, set chairs in front of each other, and looked pretty proud of herself standing in front of it all.

This woman, I can’t with her right now, I get distracted with our tv shows and our own quiet Valentine’s Day celebrations.

Then we get an email from the president of the association,“ Loli’s Love Shack Is open for business , speed dating Valentine’s extravaganza. If you’re already Boo’d up, take it as a speed neighbor meeting.”

I absolutely know for a fact, that was written by her daughter or granddaughter.

“Loli’s Love Shack”, i say out loud with a laugh, I grab my boyfriend the rest of us gather outside in the lot and decide to support her. Grandma’s hosting a speed dating event, we absolutely can’t miss this.
We all walk into the club house and there she is, big grin on her face coaxing us in, thinking no one would show up or only a handful of people (mainly us), it wasn’t just us.

No no no.

It was literally every over 60 neighbor we have lined up, masks on 10 in the building at a time. We decided to help and jump in at the end, so between switches we’d spray down the seats with Lysol and disinfect the tables.

She was playing music low in the background, and we could listen to them talking and flirting, and honestly, these older gentleman have game, and these granny’s are FLIRTY.

Apparently there’s love triangles in this neighborhood along with flirtatiously keeping each other company.

I could go into detail but I probably shouldn’t, there’s definitely some individuals playing with more cards than they should be, is all I’m saying.

I saw a little bit of jealous glances and the ladies got catty with each other at points, but Loli was quick to keep the peace, using her favorite studded cane as her gavel.

Every 5 minutes she’d pause the music and they’d switch, like clock work, apparently this wasn’t her first rodeo.

She was so in her element, fluttering between tables, talking to the individuals outside, it was as if the covid vaccine gave her an extra pep in her step.

We kept at it for a few hours, she raffled off a couple’s spa day at a local spa (apparently she had been planning this even for a while).

You know how I mentioned before, how there are certain places where we walk through the doors and there’s an energy shift, like entering a different dimension for a while.

That’s how this felt, the ambiance, the mood, the way people were talking and joking despite the masks and added cleanings, for the first time in a long time, things felt normal.

Loli has that magic about her, an energy that brings people together, and makes everything feel ok.