June 18 – Father’s Day/Anniversaries

While everything may seem to be moving in slow motion, somehow the days on the calendar keep advancing. There are still holidays and special events that are passing by in spite of a pandemic, the start of a recession and all of the other historic events occurring. June has Father’s Day and the summer equinox. In addition, my husband and I celebrate our wedding anniversary this month. All activities that are part of the tapestry of our lives. Yet the tapestry seems frayed with restrictions on gathering, wearing masks and concerns about our slowly opening businesses safely.

Our family is not big on celebrations but we usually do something for our anniversary after so many years together. This year when my husband asked if I wanted to do anything special, in jest I said that my simple wish is to survive until our next anniversary. Underneath that joke is the fact that we feel more comfortable ordering dinner and bringing it home instead of going out to a restaurant. While it might be nice to go out, we prefer to wait because of our situation. It will still be an event for us, even if it isn’t quite how others might celebrate the day.

In this way we distract from the current situation, which helps our family to cope. Occasionally  I stop, temporarily overcome by thoughts about the current situation and how so much larger it is then what usually happens in my life. When this happens, I rest for a minute, honor my feelings and then move on, working to keep busy as a way to focus on other things. I am glad to see many others also finding ways to keep going and live their lives. Better to focus on what we can celebrate and change so we move forward to our future.

Pictures by J.T. Harpster. Prints can be purchased at https://shellcreek.redbubble.com/