Easter looked different than we had planned or than it has ever looked before, but it wasn't bad. Blessings were there, they just required us to look a little harder and to embrace the way things are with grateful hearts. Our church hosted beautiful masses throughout holy week, and Easter Sunday mass was no exception - it is a gift to be part of our school and church community, and I loved listening to the heartfelt blessings our priests poured out into our (virtual) parish. We listened to Andrea Bocceli from The Duomo -- I've perhaps never felt such meaning in a rendition of Ave Maria, and then Amazing Grace. So lovely of him to use that God-given gift to bring a moment of peace and joy to the world.
There was brunch and bubbly and excited kiddos tearing through the backyard in search of plastic eggs. Oh, and the easter bunny found us thanks to the generosity and love of our sweet Nana Bunny.
We were supposed to be in Charleston this week with my entire family for spring break, and I'll admit that I am feeling the distance from them in an especially acute way right now. But I am grateful for near daily FaceTimes or zoom calls and text exchanges that keep us close. I remind myself to focus on the true gift of family and the sort of closeness that no virus (or anything else) can touch or change or break. And when we are all together again, I know everyone will understand and be grateful in a new way for the gift of each another.
We are ensconced in week five of quarantine now, and this week is less structured given we aren't in "school." We are embracing slower mornings and just seeing where the days take us. I have a loose goal of one activity per day outside the norm: yesterday the kids painted outside, but today they seem content with their legos and their play structure and each other, so perhaps we'll wait to pull out another activity until tomorrow. And so it goes.
I still fill out my planner and derive great joy from crossing off tasks, whether for work or to help keep sanity in check. Daily vitamins, daily tea, tracking water intake, planning out workouts, setting goals to write here a couple of times each week. And then being ok with it when it all goes to hell for a day (like yesterday) and I do mostly nothing. That's alright too.
And above all, I remain so grateful for our health, that we have each other, that we're able to work from home, for deep breaths and the ability to move, for cerulean skies and sunshine, for carefree drives along the coast. For our frontline heroes battling this beast every day (my God, the stories are endless and brutal and beautiful and I cry every single day at the beauty of the helpers and the resilience of humanity). As everyone says, we're in this together. Let's remember that when we are able to return to some semblance of normal, too.
Sending love far and wide! xo
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