Finish this sentence...

I never thought that in my lifetime I would be……

It would be logical, understanding and valid if many of you finished this sentence with: ”living though a pandemic”. Indeed, we are all actually living and breathing wearily through it. If we were able for a fleeting moment to put the medical, social, psychological and financial crises aside, we could unmask to see little glimmers of positives and consolations.

I would finish that sentence with…taking in the intoxicating scent of fresh air on my sheets and clothes from the clothesline; running out of flour because of all the baking I’m doing; having my yard looking so good by the end of May; learning about my extraordinary and resilient 93 year old mother who learned to use an iPad so she could see her family; sitting at the supper table for more than an hour conversing with my husband; waving to neighbours on walks whom I haven’t seen in months, even years; chatting on the phone for hours each day catching up with friends and family until my voice cracked; turning OFF Anderson Cooper to get back to my book; oh… and dare I say …longingly looking out the window at the birds and wildlife while anxiously waiting for my Nespresso order to arrive! Ok, these are all my experiences.

We are aching emotionally for normalcy, familiarity and closeness with our loved ones. We’re finding our way through a treeless forest and treading water in unfamiliar oceans. Let us not be defined by this experience but how we choose to respond to and remember it. We would all fill in this sentence differently, but the point is, in all those masks we are wearing there is a silver lining.
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