This year, resolve is about endurance. Finding the strength to get up every day and go through the routine of remote school, remote work, and remote socializing. When we started these things in March, we braced ourselves for two weeks, maybe three, and then we'd be back together. It hasn't worked out that way. Now we must push through to the end of what's become a marathon, rather than the sprint we thought it would be. Trust me, the last few miles of 26.2 are much more challenging than the first. As Robert Frost said, the best way out is always through. And so through we must go, resolutely.
This year, resolve is about safety. Gathering the willpower to do what's best for my family, even though it's tempting to let down our guard. I over tip the many delivery people who allow me to avoid shopping in person, and thank them profusely when I see them. I'm grateful for my husband's essential job in the transportation industry and still breathe a sigh of relief when he's safe at home each evening. I'd like nothing more than to send my kids back to school, but I don't see how that's realistic or safe, and so we do our best each day, tempering what's due with what's possible because being safe includes our mental health, too. We don our masks for walks around the block, and I socialize on porches and back yards and on screen. We stay in touch while trying not to touch anything or anyone.
Photo Credit Dan Smedley
Photo Credit Jon Tyson