Taken from my FB Page ( A COVID-19 Post)

RJC just asked me, “Is it a stay home September with you?” When I said “yes” she nodded and continued on with what she was doing. It appears that she is adjusting to this “new normal” and while it certainly is easier than when she was fighting it, it makes me sad. This past weekend I had to let her know we could not go to the Aquarium or the Zoo. Both of her favorite places were in her calendar for this month. I had dreaded telling her (worked myself up into quite a tizzy) and Hal and I had talked about different tactics to use. We finally settled on the straight talk. I listed all of the places we couldn’t go anymore that she already knew about, then added “and no more Aquarium or Zoo.” She stared at me a bit then went to her calendar on her iPad and said, “delete?” I nodded. She deleted. That was that. This pandemic has really made life complicated but this new complicit, passively- accepting-bad-news behavior has oddly made me sad. Is that where we all are now? Just a sad acceptance of the inevitable that the world we know it - the pleasures we enjoyed are no longer possible so - oh well? Ug. There is no guaranteed way to avoid getting sick but at the very least I’ll wear my mask, social distance and wash my hands without complaint. Because I want my old life back. I want to see and hug my family and friends, I want to go to shows and movies comfortably, I want to attend synagogue and share simchas and kiddush! Mostly I want to take my gal to her favorite spots with no worries about ending up on the news because she took off her mask. Just sayin’. And - I would love an end to the illness and deaths and divisiveness that we are bombarded with every day. I would love to not have anxiety about getting sick and trying to figure out who will take care of my gal (and though her sister is an adult I absolutely still worry about her like crazy), about my family members and friends getting sick, about all of the teachers and first responders’ health and safety, and really - globally - it is all such a concern. All of these feelings surfaced because my gal didn’t tantrum, didn’t hit herself, didn’t go through a wall. I know - I should be thrilled. But it made me sad. From here it’s time to move on with our day. Headed out for a ride with my gal then to a socially distant gathering of Friendship Circle moms. Life goes on in a weird way. But it goes on and for that - I will be grateful ☺️