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| Me and my boys post Lake Superior swim. |
A couple weeks ago I was driving and found myself feeling something I hadn’t felt in quite awhile. Happy.
I didn’t recognize the feeling right away, as it's been so fleeting and elusive since the pandemic began more than 15-months ago. I certainly wasn’t doing anything special when the feeling crept up on me — just driving around running errands. But I felt happy to just be out doing something so mundane and normal while listening to music on the radio. The sun was shining and I was thinking about the future and upcoming plans. It’s amazing how having plans again and things to look forward to can make everything so much better.
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| My Sausage Camp family together again for 2021. All adults vaccinated and kids tested. |
Of course, I am wary of letting my guard down too much when it comes to getting back to normal life and activities. As much as we all want the pandemic to be over, I realize it is not. While so much of the world is desperate to get vaccinated as fast spreading variants wreak havoc, we’re at a point in America where so many anti-vaxx idiots jeopardize the progress we’ve made in fighting the pandemic. The fact that our government has to offer incentives to vaccine hesitant people while others in the world are literally dying to get their hands on these life saving vaccines is embarrassing and shameful. I’m just not sure at this point what we can do to fix this problem. Focusing on getting the vaccines out to the world makes the most sense, while giving up on the stubborn and ignorant Americans who chose to not get vaccinated.
As the mother of two boys who are not yet old enough to be vaccinated, I am very aware of the dangers that remain regarding Covid. My husband and I have weighed the risk factors, and with the knowledge that our community transmission has decreased significantly with high rates of vaccination, we have put the kids back out there for the most part. My youngest is participating in a summer school pre-K program and my oldest is attending summer camps. They are required to wear masks indoors, but for the most part, we are going unmasked outside this summer and enjoying time with friends and family again. It’s such a joy to see them happy and experiencing normal childhood activities. I have hope that they’ll be fully vaccinated this fall and attend school in-person.
As for myself, I have again eaten indoors at restaurants, though I still prefer to sit outside if I can. I have experienced unmasked shopping at Target. I have hugged friends and family. I bought a plane ticket to visit a friend in Denver and see my two favorite bands play a show at Red Rocks. As I think about these simple things we used to take for granted, I feel the sides of my mouth creasing upward. What is this strange phenomenon? What is this weird feeling welling up inside of me? Oh yeah, it’s mother fucking happiness mixed in with a bit of joy. It’s a goddamn smile! It may be too late to counteract the frown lines that have deepened over the last 15-months, but it feels pretty incredible and I’d like to take this moment to revel in it a bit. We may not be out of this pandemic. This might only be a temporary reprieve. But if you’re feeling like I am today, do yourself a favor and enjoy it. Take a moment to sit back and smile. You’ve earned it.
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| Long overdue visit with grandma and grandpa! |
Tomorrow we can go back to worrying about ALL the shit.
