Flying Leap

You know what I was doing four years ago?   It was Sunday. I went to see Pete Buttigieg speak at War Memorial.  He would suspend his campaign the next day, just before Super Tuesday, which broke my heart. 

We also had a massive tornado on Super Tuesday.  Matt and I still went to vote, sadly, not for Pete, but I was still glad to participate in the Primaries.

Anyway, when I think about that day - that lovely sunny day in late February - I remember it as the last of the good times.

Sort of.  I also remember a trip to Chicago just before my father had a stroke as the last of the good times.

Which means it's just a marker of a before/after in my life.

In 2020, there were two really good things that happened - both of them in

the early months. 

1.  Jim and I got to see Hamilton.

2.  The aforementioned Buttigiegery.

And within a few weeks of the latter, we were plunged into covid times.  Pandemic, and isolation, and work from home, and you might as well get comfortable, because for the next year and a half, you're going to be doing just that.

Early days of the Pandemic were hard, scary, and so boring.  I actually missed our last day at work pre-pandemic, to go visit my mother.  On my way home, I stopped at a rural Walmart where I bought graham crackers, and toilet paper (not tons, just a pack of it), some meat, hot dogs, I think.  Basics.  

And then... it began.

I'm sad that I missed the last day of normal-ish with my pals.  I had to take her to an appointment, I think - that was the whole reason I went down there.  I don't remember who. Doesn't matter.

Anyway.  Who knew?  Who knew on that bright sunny Sunday where I felt hopeful for the first time in a long time that I was just around the corner from a new kind of hopeless.

Look - I'm still working through the "new normal".  My therapist and I talked about the office closing.  I've talked about it with a lot of people.  I am still talking.  Today, I learned we'll probably be out sooner than October - but late summer/early fall looks to be the target.  I talked to some trainers who are moving their classes to Chattanooga.  Not really an option for us, but I'm glad for them.

My point being, there will likely be other times in my life where there's that "best of times/worst of times" schism - and that's OK.  Dickens.  Charles Dickens.  You get the idea.

I mean, Mayor Pete became Secretary of Transportation Pete - and he and his husband had twin babies, and that's all good stuff.  I think he'll be a great leader for years to come.

And as they sin in La Cage Aux Folles - "the best of times is now."

I'll check back in four years and let you know.