MARCO ISLAND
If you feel like you’re stuck home right now, you are not alone. The governor’s safer-at-home order has most of us inside. But that hasn’t stopped a man in Marco Island from trying to cheer up his neighbors.
Every evening, Tom Blaney walks outside his Marco Island home and sings for everybody who will listen.
“I think it’s an awesome relief from what’s going on here,” Blaney said.
Blaney and his life partner, Lynn, vacation on Marco Island every year. Like many other vacationers, the coronavirus changed their plans. Now, their daily excursions only go as far as the balcony to try and lift the spirits of everyone that can hear them.
“We’re all vulnerable, and it just gives me a feeling that I’m doing something for somebody else,” Blaney said. “And it’s a good feeling.”
It’s now the highlight of their evenings. Blaney says it’s helped bring their neighbors closer together even though COVID-19 forces them to stay apart.
Blaney and Lynn are scheduled to fly back to Massachusetts in three weeks. They say they will stay in their Marco condo if they need to, and Blaney and will continue to sing to his neighbors until they leave.
So as the sun goes down on Marco Island, neighbors are reminded that there is light at the end of the tunnel.
“As well as the period of time that I’m singing and the 15 to 20 minutes before and the 20 to 30 minutes afterward, the people are on the balconies conversing with one another from one balcony to another,” Blaney said. “And I think it’s raised a lot of spirits.”