RETURN TO NORMALCY?

I hope not.

Because of the virus, we’ve changed our focus and routines with grandkids. It used to be public swimming pools, movie theaters, sporting events, and county fairs ... and I wouldn’t trade those wonderful memories.

BUT, WE’RE HAVING TO GET CREATIVE.

For safety reasons, we’re doing things a bit different.

Teaching them how to bike up a mountain trail and notice the beauty. Fewer dinners on the run and more talk around the table. Tender conversations on walks with the dogs. We even taught them how to play a favorite board game from our own past - SORRY - and what it means to be a good loser and a gracious winner.

I HOPE WE MEET IN THE MIDDLE.

When we come out the other end of this pandemic, maybe there’s a BETTER place somewhere between the rat race we sprinted six months ago and a worldwide shutdown. Instead of wishing and waiting to go BACK to “normalcy,” are we opening our hearts and minds to learning a DIFFERENT kind of “normal” that might even provide something we were missing before in our frantic and over scheduled pace?

IT’S OKAY TO MISS WHAT WAS.

I’m still struggling with my own adjustments and quietly crave many emotionally fulfilling events that aren’t possible right now.

But, I’m feeling a switch to create some new moments that will help me make a small difference in my own life ... and theirs.