Since the end of 2020, when vaccines started rolling out, it appears that we are moving towards our new normal. I am optimistic this may be one of the last posts about our scenes from quarantine. Cases have dramatically reduced. Although while kids are getting 12 and up now also are getting vaccinated, we are seeing more younger children get sick. Like my 10 year old nephew Anthony. But overall, the number of sick and dying has dramatically decreased. But this is just for the USA. There are many countries, like India, Brazil, Uganda, and more, where the cases were quite low for quite some time but now things are out of control. In many of these developing nations, this is causing immense suffering and death. So while we in the USA are getting back to a new normal, our brothers and sisters across the planet, are not. I think it is very important to point that out because here in the USA, we can be very self-centered and/or turn a blind eye to the suffering and need of others.
While I keep the reality of the inequalities of the world in mind, I am thankful we here in the USA are moving towards a new normal. (and I say 'new normal' because this global pandemic has permanently changed many things about how we will going forward.) Masks recently were deemed unnecessary in outdoor settings (unless in a crowded space) and businesses (that have survived) are opening up. We were given the okay to hug our friends and families who were vaccinated. It was a most joyous occasion, when recently we gathered with Don's family to celebrate our 96 year old Aunt Fran and wish her well as she moves to Chicago. It felt a bit out of sorts, being so close, eating together without masks, laughing. But it was a good for our hearts and minds as well as way to reset our brains as we get back to our new normal.
I think those hardest hit mentally and emotionally are our children. What a time we are living in, especially for our children. It has been confusing and scary. With things settling down, I want to put in writing, how I have been feeing. One day, when my girls are older, they will remember they lived through a global pandemic. While we do talk about things, they are still young. So I hold back certain thoughts and others I share, I wonder how much they are able to comprehend and digest.
I have many mixed feelings about the pandemic and what this has all meant and been about. I have heard about and read many of the conspiracy theories over the past eighteen months. Some state that Covid is all fake, that it's about the new world order, that the illuminati is behind this to maintain their pedophile agenda, that our former president was in on the agenda to save all the children from the pedophile elite. I personally subscribe to the ideas that big government and corporations are (very) ill intended and deceitful towards the masses. Yet, I would bet my children's lives that our former president ain't no saint. At the same time, I think that we were not told the truth of the origins of Covid, which I do think is very real. I just don't trust the corporate led medical system, which did not allow for mainstream media to share ways for us to stay safe and healthy (high doses of vitamin d for starters). I also know that our modern, western health care system did a lot of good and saved a lot of lives.
I know as well, that we were not told all the facts about this Covid-19. I could go on, but my point is that the truth lies somewhere in the middle. That things are not black and white. And, no matter what the truth, the whole damn thing has been scary. No matter where this virus came from, who started it, who did not tell us the facts, that we were not told how to support our immune systems, that we were told to stay away from our friends and family, we were locked in for a year and a half. And it was scary. We were locked down in our homes, left to watch Governor Cuomo give daily reports of the hundreds and thousands of people who were dying in overrun hospitals in New York. We held our breaths, to see if it would spread or "disappear shortly" (as the knucklehead former president told us.) Then it did spread and the fear rose. At the same time, people got funny about masks, distancing, etc. It was all politized. Our thankfully now former, president, made it all worse with his narcissistic and sociopathic leanings. To top it off there was then the murder of George Floyd but a white cop, filmed for the whole world to see. That pushed even those who did believe safe distancing, wearing masks etc, to come out to the streets by the hundreds of thousands to protest. Even in our family, Amara and I made our way to the streets of Oakland. It is suffice to say that this whole past year and a half was one of the most challenging times in our modern history.
In recent weeks, we have slowly allowed ourselves to acclimate to this new normal. Amara had a birthday party/grad party for her 8th year class. It was in the yard and some kids wore masks but it was hecka nice to cook, feed and break bread with the kids and parents. They were so excited to hang out, play together and watch an outdoor movie. It almost felt like the old days if there were not the masks and some safe distancing still going on. We have also gotten together with family, friends and eaten out. We had Havana's birthday in the outside patio or a local Mexican place. Things like eating out with others was once taken for granted. Now we rejoice in the company of those we had to keep away from for far too long. The adults seem to be adjusting easier. The girls, they are struggling at times, trying to make sense of this new normal. I think for those who are younger, this pandemic will have had a deeper impact for a longer period of time.
While we do acclimate, here's to our new normal and getting rid of those masks and safe distancing rules and to hugging and laughing with our loved ones again.
(Below and above are some scenes from April until now It is amazing what transpires in a few months.)
