There’s a saying ‘there are friends who become family,’ and those words appear to ring true for Affinity Plus members Polly Mann and Debra Howze. So true in their case that they quarantined together after both tested positive for COVID-19 in November 2020.
Their relationship began 25 years ago when Debra started cleaning Polly’s home, which eventually led to work as Polly’s personal care assistant. Over the years, their friendship grew. You can hear it in the way Debra affectionately calls her Miss Polly. And Debra has become friends with Polly’s children as well.
Both women describe an easy decision to quarantine together since they both had COVID-19. “It didn’t make sense to bring in a family member or someone else because they could likely become infected,” said Debra.
Polly and Debra quarantined together for 20 days. During that time, they celebrated Thanksgiving together and Polly’s 101st birthday on November 19, complete with a socially distanced celebration so Polly could wave to friends and family from the balcony.
To pass the time, the two friends also played a lot of Scrabble® with Polly winning most rounds. “I show no mercy when playing Scrabble,” she said. And they both read and wrote. “I write a lot, so I continued to do so during our quarantine,” said Polly. “Writing keeps me busy.” Indeed, Polly still writes for
Southside Pride in her occasional series “Notes from the desk of peace activist Polly Mann.” She writes on topics such as COVID-19, social justice and her time as founder of Women Against Military Madness (WAMM), an organization of like-minded women opposed to war that still thrives today.
Time together for even the closest family members or friends can be challenging; however, both women said there were no rough patches. “I don’t recall any tough times during our quarantine together,” said Polly. “Thankfully, we weren’t that sick and we felt pretty good. And we get along well, so we didn’t have a bad experience,” said Debra.
During their joint quarantine, doctors regularly called to check on them, and family and friends dropped off food. Polly’s family has been supportive of their extraordinary friendship and time quarantining together. Their advice to others who have elders who need to quarantine after a COVID-19 diagnosis? “Quarantine with people who also have the virus – it’s better to do that, so you’re not alone.”
Both women were also appreciative of their relationship with Affinity Plus, with both women banking at the Minneapolis location on University Avenue. Polly has been a member of Affinity Plus since 1994 and Debra has been with the credit union since February 2020. “I recall joining Affinity Plus in part because they appeared to be very caring,” said Polly. “The customer service at Affinity Plus is great,” said Debra. “Everyone is upbeat and patient. If I need help, someone always helps me. They even came out to my car to help me with something because the branch lobby was closed due to COVID-19.”
Although the women are thankful for their relatively mild cases of COVID-19, they’re aware of how lucky they are – both to have beaten the virus and to have such an endearing friendship. “We told each other we loved each other a whole lot,” said Debra. “Polly would say, ‘I’m glad you’re here.’ And I would say, ‘I’m glad I’m here too.’ I was thankful to be with Miss Polly to help her through COVID-19.”
