Relationships
MOM’S WORLD
Pandemic Perspective In A Tale of Two Cities, Dickens wrote, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” In that same vein, a friend of mine recently said that she thought that the coronavirus pandemic was the best and worst thing that had ever happened to us. Many people have made note of the fact that while the social distancing, mask-wearing, plan-changing has been difficult, they have also had more time with their families, become more physically active outside and spent more time cooking their own meals. It has been a massive pause in our society, and, like it or not, it has resulted in change in perspective. Some people have decided they’d rather work from home, even if they could go back to work. Some people have never had the option to not work. 34 | July-August 2020
Some people have gone to work, gotten sick, and not returned. Some people have decided that they just want to be home with their children, if that’s an option. And, of course, some people have died or lost loved ones in this pandemic. In addition, some relationships have strengthened as couples have had more time together to enjoy, while others have had their conflicts amplified by too much togetherness. The pandemic has certainly made us as human beings aware of what we do and do not want — in our jobs, in our personal relationships, in our spiritual lives, and in our selves as people. There’s been a lot of “we were supposed to be doing this right now” and certainly a sense of loss of those changed plans, missed celebrations, postponed happenings that may
never, let’s face it, happen. In addition, however, it seems there’s been a lot of “when this is over, I’m going to...” (fill in the blank). In its midst, we have also faced divisiveness as a society and nation as we confront racism and privilege on a level that I’ve never witnessed in my 50 years on this planet. Perhaps because of the added strain of the pandemic, it has not taken much to push people in one direction or another as to what is and is not acceptable in the wake of George Floyd’s untimely and brutal death. Somehow quietly retreating to our normalcy of contemporary society has seemed unreachable at this juncture in history. Silence seems deafening. Criticism of “the other side” seems to ring louder as well. So many people are drawing the line in aawmag.com
