Good morning freia

The first time my friend Josh texted me “Good morning freia,” I did not take it well. It was our first day working from home, and days before New York would issue the stay at home order. I was caught off guard by the earnest message, and was sure it was some kind of joke. I still don't quite know why, but he had earnestly sent me what would become the first of our now daily quarantine ritual - texting each other good morning. Josh is one of my best friends and we text all the time, but we’re almost always making jokes, talking shit, and messing around. I don’t think he’s ever sent me such a formal, bland message before.

The first text

Eventually, I set aside my confusion, deciding that this is just one of those weird parts about the new normal, and returned his Good Morning text. Instantly, we were sending each other good morning messages every day, first just texts, but quickly evolving into an increasingly elaborate back and forth of photos, GIFs, and memes. The formerly untouched “Digital Touch” feature became a fast favorite.

(A selection of our Good Morning/Good Night posts)

We start making even more involved messages - our own fake Tweets and news headlines. The messages, both sending and receiving, become a fun bit to look forward to. I catch myself seeing things on the internet throughout the day, wondering how to fit them into a good morning message. I noticed one day that on Instagram DMs, the most recent message looks the same whether you DMd them or they DMd you, so I took this screenshot (of a real DM!) to former Patriots star Tom Brady, Josh’s favorite player.


I thought it would last a week or two, but a few weeks in and we kept going back and forth, rarely missing a day. One day, I decided to ask my dad who I’m quarantining with, to make a Good Morning video on my behalf. My dad ran with it and decided to pretend like it was a cameo video. The stakes had been raised. The next day, Josh got a very busy mutual friend of ours to make an elaborate video skit wishing me a good morning. I was really touched that another person had now invested his time into our silly bit.

A few days later, I booked our favorite Tiktok duo, Angel Mamiii and John Dees for to do a real cameo for Josh. A few weeks later, Josh made a Tiktok of his morning, vlogger style, and sent it to me. When I told him I was writing this blog, he revealed another video he’d been sitting on, a Cameo from that one guy from the presidential debate, Ken Bone.

In the span of everything that’s going on in this pandemic, it feels silly to be this invested and delighted by something like texting my friends good morning every day, but it has become a wonderful and grounding force that sets a hopeful, even if briefly, tone for each day.

(More of our Good Morning/Good Night posts)

8000 miles away, my mother, a lung doctor who’s currently living alone, is leading the Coronavirus response and treating patients at her hospital in a Coronavirus hotspot in India. Every night, I think about my mom, her patients, her staff and the bravery with which they are all fighting this pandemic. Every night I lie awake, unable to sleep and worrying about my mom, feeling completely helpless. It feels like I’m lying awake in the darkness for hours and hours every night, eventually just falling asleep suddenly. And then I wake up, still worried at first, and then, suddenly filled with excitement, ready to open my text from Josh.

And hey, Josh, if you’re reading this - Good Morning!