You know I have tried to write this post a bunch of times and a bunch of different ways, so I think I am going to stop trying to be profound and deep and just be honest.
One year ago today I started social distancing in earnest, a day before I believe the statewide Safer-at-Home lockdown began. There are a lot of things I miss about The Before Times. I miss going to the gym and the movies and hanging out with friends. I miss seeing my students in an actual classroom and going places other than the store.
I am still extremely angry at the fact that profit and money are driving most of the decisions in this country. What I said in May of last year still stands (which makes me even more angry):
I can have empathy for people who are tired of socially distancing and who want to get back to what life is like before. But I just cannot stand the absolute and total disregard for human life that people have and more than that, the fact that leadership ON ALL LEVELS is being driven–not by compassion and not by concern for people’s health, but by money.
I thankfully have not lost anyone close to me during this pandemic, but I know plenty of people who have. The loss of life, the fact that people cannot be with their loved ones during such difficult times–it’s all just so devastating to me.
I am grateful that I have reconnected with friends, that I am safe at home, that my daughter is safe at school, that I am able to work and watch TV and figure out ways to exercise. I am grateful that I can stay connected to the people I love through all of this wonderful technology we have now. Most of all, I am grateful that vaccinations are happening and that we finally–finally!–have a competent and compassionate president who cares about making sure people are vaccinated.
I am also grateful that with the vaccines there is finally a light at the end of this tunnel.
This past year has been both extremely long and gone by extremely quickly (mostly because I can almost never remember what day it actually is). I am still terrified of this virus and a lot of the decision making that continues to happen in the rush to get back to normal, and I hate that I still don’t know what the next few months or year will look like. But I am very grateful to have made it through this past year alive.
And I don’t know how to end this post, so I’m just going to end it there.
The Englishist 