COVID Characters: Part VI

As I write, I’m reflecting on how long 2.5 months feels when you’re locked down and isolated. I’m meditating on exhaustion and how deep and bone-weary it makes one feel. At this point in history, we’ve all somehow adjusted to a #newnormal in which we wash our groceries, don’t hug our friends or grandparents, half teach and half work at home, wear masks in public and don’t hold doors or talk to strangers much anymore. Zoom calls and car parades have become the way to celebrate life’s milestones, from graduations and proms to weddings, births, birthdays and funerals. And yet there are also parts of this adjusted normal that I’ll be less willing to quickly give up – like the lack of a long commute, the over-busyness that school and sports schedules create, the hours wasted in the grocery store.

It’s funny how many different emotions are part of the human experience. It can be all of many things at once.

During this strange, strange time, I’d say one of the professions I am most thankful for are our teachers. They are another group of the amazing heroes of Spring 2020, as they’ve had to quickly learn how to do their jobs virtually, often with their kids being taught or cared at the same time as reaching out to their students to continue their education and connect with them in any way they can. 

Thank you, teachers, for guiding us and our children through this tumultuous season!