BEACHWOOD, Ohio — A city in Ohio has come up with a creative way to say "thank you" to first responders, welcome in spring and give families an activity to do while they have to be at home.
- The city of Beachwood is asking residents to decorate their windows to thank first responders or welcome in spring
- The Bystrom family is participating
- Decorations can be sent to Lynn.Johnson@beachwoodohio.com
The Bystroms are like many families across Ohio right now — they’re stuck at home.
"It’s been pretty fun," said the family. "We’ve been finding ways to keep ourselves entertained. We’ve been doing a little fitness competition to see who can work the hardest!" said Grady Bystrom.
They discovered an interesting activity when the city of Beachwood, on social media, challenged neighbors to get creative — which Missy, the mom, accepted.
"I still like to pretend they’re in kindergarten and second grade!" said Missy Bystrom.
The Bystroms’ window shows a globe, surrounded by everyone still working right now. It includes doctors, firefighters, police officers, mail workers and journalists. It also has "Thank You" written in different languages from across the world.
"We hope that they take away that they’re an invaluable component of our community here and without them, we’d probably be at a bit of a loss," said Spencer Bystrom.
The Bystroms aren’t alone. Beachwood’s Facebook page has several festive windows with inspirational ways of saying thank you, and for this family, it’s a bonding experience.
"Even though initially they were a little bit like, ‘are you serious mom?’ you know, in the end, we ended up having a really fun time. And I think it’s something to say that a junior in high school and a freshman in college can sit down with their mom and, you know, do something like this and have some fun. It’s a good little thing for anybody to do at any age.