And Away They Go!

 

Hi!

It's been a week, hasn't it?

Kids are back to school after an extremely long break. Getting back into a school routine, and a very different one than they are used to, is gonna require all kinds of patience.

Kids who are prone to losing things will still do so, it's just now sanitizers and masks are added to the list of things most likely to go missing. 

They are going to have a bit of a time getting used to the whole sitting for hours thing again, the structure, the bells, the bus rides, all of it. It's a lot.

As time progresses, it's a very real possibility that some, if not all of these new routines, the ones they've worked so hard to adhere to, could be uprooted, once again. It's a seat-of-the-pants start where things could change quickly. 

Patience.

Everyone is going to need to have an abundance of it, both to bestow upon others and to have gifted to them. Teachers, support staff, parents, and especially, the kids. 

Let's just try and remember everyone is doing their level best in a tough, never-experienced-before situation. 

We got this.

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9/11

A Tuesday, our second oldest daughter's 14th birthday. The girls were getting ready for school, the tv was on, tuned into a news channel.

I walked through the living room, on my way to the kitchen, only halfway paying attention to what was on the screen. I saw the first plane hit. I thought it was a movie trailer or something. I stopped to see. That's when the reality of what was happening began to scratch the surface of my psyche. By the time I was able to process the fact that this was actually happening, the second plane hit.

By this time we were all in the living room, watching in horror and disbelief. The girls were 15, 14, 10, and 9. 

The world was never the same after that. Fundamental things changed. 

It put the world on tilt. 

The world is tilting again. This time, not by something rooted in malicious intent. By a virus.

The virus was thrown at every continent. Almost every country. It was thrown at humanity in such a way as to test the leadership of every country hit.

Some have done well.

The countries where the leaders listen to the science, give their citizens all of the facts to help them make informed decisions, put safety nets in place so people can keep a roof over their heads and food on the table, make testing and contact tracing a priority, encourage and sometimes mandate wearing masks, the countries that have done and continue to do these things are doing pretty well.

Some haven't.

The countries where the leaders kept the truth from their citizens are still struggling. The countries where the leaders actively spread misinformation still have thousands of people dying from this virus every single week. A person can't help but wonder how many people might still be walking the earth if they had known the truth. The stats say tens of thousands of people, and that's just in the United States.

Tens of thousands of people who would still be with their families. Thousands of families unnecessarily grieving. 

For what.

It's impossible to wrap my head around the reasoning. 

To know how deadly the virus was. How easily it spread. How important early action was. Then, not only keep the truth to yourself, but tell the people you've sworn to protect, some bullshit fairytale about how it would disappear and was just like the regular flu. 

Receiving truth, spewing lies.

I don't get it, I will never get it. 

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May we never forget the tragedy that stole innocent lives and was fueled by hate.

May we learn from history that hate can beget nothing else, it seals a horrible fate.

May the truth seep through the fog-covered maze of lies streaming from the top.

May truth finally prevail, science be given the respect it deserves, may the spread of misinformation just stop.

May we all do what we do best, come together to get through the times that are tough.

May we all do our best to be patient, be kind, for everyone, this is hard, this is rough.

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