by Ammie Bryant

After the changes that have impacted all of our lives over the last month and a half (has it only been that long?) it’s hard to know what to write this month. So much is still unknown. We don’t know how long before we can return to some semblance of “normal” because modeling of when the peak will arrive for our state and nation changes from day to day. And even when that time comes, we will still have to employ a certain level of social distancing until there is a vaccine. That will likely be months or possibly even a year away.

When I sat down to write this letter for last month’s issue, just one month ago, we had hope that these changes would not be long term. We had hope that events would be rescheduled, that the kids would go back to school, and that the seniors would be able to finish the year together. As of this writing, we still don’t know for sure what will happen regarding graduation. I still have a stack of graduation announcements and party invitations sitting on my file cabinet, waiting for the final determination.

I know that our family is blessed. We are able to work from home and as long as we have enough advertisers for us to cover our publication expenses, we will continue to produce this magazine. Despite disappointments over what our kids are missing (and honestly, we as parents, who are proud of their accomplishments, are missing vicariously) we are doing mostly okay. We have our health, we have food, we have shelter, and we are together. We miss seeing our extended family and friends but someday we will be able to see them in person again. When we do, I hope that we appreciate our freedoms and one another more than ever before.

In the meantime, our family will continue to stay safe at home as much as possible to help stop the spread and to keep others safe and healthy so that our frontline healthcare providers will be able to come home sooner rather than later.   

Until next month, stay safe, stay healthy, and we will all move onward still together in spirit even though we remain physically apart.