I don’t want life to go back to “normal”
I’m sitting here thinking of how our days looked a few
months ago. I worked 40 hours a week at my day job and 30 plus hours at my
ministry job. I would run in and out of the garage door dropping my things and then
running to the next thing. It was barely keeping clothes clean, while running
to the store throwing things in a basket, making mediocre meals that if we were
lucky we sat down to eat. All the while home educating two boys, keeping up
with all the family birthdays and Sunday gatherings. My phone never stopped
ringing, the texts, the calls and the e mails. I never felt I was doing
anything well. I was surviving. Barely.
I remember when things started closing down and my 20-year-old
son said, “They will never close down my job.” It was 48 hours later that he
was told his place of employment was closed. My son-in-love was suddenly
teaching high school remotely. My daughter was working from home and remote
schooling her son. Another daughter was moving and promoting her small
business. Everything changed. Not just for our family but for America. Life
came to a fast halt. We were home. Offices and schools were now in our family
rooms and dining room tables. Sundays were church on the couch via live stream.
We as a family were all face to face in the same space for the first time in a
long time. It was real. Some days have been very hard. I can speak for myself
that a lot of my friends have posted all the great home improvements and projects
they have completed. Many people have started a new hobby, reading, or learning
a new skill. While all of these accomplishments and skills are amazing, I have
learned some different things.
I learned my 20-year-old son loves his job and his coworkers.
I know that my oldest really enjoys her husband remotely working as their two
young girls enjoy daddy at home. I saw
my senior in high school keep up with his college classes, job, and horse. I
saw that senior stress firsthand. I’m
amazed at my daughter, who started a new job about 9 months ago, take her
skills home and keep her job duties at home from 9-5 while remote schooling her
Kindergarten son. I’ve seen another daughter move, adjust life, and promote her
business with her husband. The youngest two boys have kept up with homeschool
with all of this swirling around them. It certainly has been a challenging
time.
However, it’s all the
changes that truly brought a wonderful vibe back to all of our lives. We now
eat dinner together. The “High- Low” chat at the table was the throw back. Each
person at the table shares the highest and lowest moment of the day. This led
to some funny family memories of years past that we all roar over. Monopoly has ruled the night. Mario Kart
parties have been reborn. Puzzles have been made. Uno came back. Yard work was
done. Campfires with s’mores and great conversation. Grown kids helped with
moving, birthdays, and calls to support one another. I realized things I
otherwise wouldn’t have in this stillness of home. We were together. We were
talking. Laughter returned. We had one another. We pulled together.
I hope that things don’t return to normal. This time
together has been an incredible blessing. If we have learned anything it is
that we all need to lean on one another. That the simple times are the best
times. It turns out that we still like to talk, play, and hang out without any
particular reason. This is the rainbow in these scary times of uncertainty. I am
grateful and thankful and blessed for all these moments. I truly pray that our
entire world takes a step back and doesn’t return to the old “normal”. The old normal
was the most socially distant our family has ever been. It took a pandemic to
get our attention and pull us back in. We are closer today than we have been in
years.
Thank you to all who work on the front lines of this corona
virus. The health care workers, first responders and essential workers. A personal shout out to my Costco family at
1160 Easton. We are all so grateful for everyone lending a hand. Take care of
your neighbor. Be kind in all you do, and I pray you are safe and healthy.
Always for life,
Kambra
Kambra
