How is everyone doing? I realize the theme of our letters has been similar these last few months, but we’re all living in a fluid world, one that we need to navigate and treat as “normal,” for now.

 Here’s our current normal: Our two boys are getting ready to start their school year in a “not-so-normal” way. It’s called hybrid learning—half the day in school, half at home. I debated having them learn 100 percent remotely, for consistency, but that would have meant not seeing friends or meeting new teachers face-to-face.

 Our older boy will start his senior year this way. Not exactly what we thought his last year would look like. This is the biggie, the culmination of all those years from being a little guy to a man about town, going to his senior prom, and then graduating. I saw what my friends went through as their 2020 graduates’ year came to an abrupt halt. Now it’s our turn, and we’re starting the school year not knowing what the rest will look like. Will, he ever go back to full time in person, or will it shift to full time at home? Will he get to play his last season of baseball? Will he have a graduation ceremony?

 Our younger boy will be a sophomore. If I were a betting woman, I’d wager that by the time he graduates, this pandemic will be a thing of the past, something that will go into the history books for future students. He has time—time for things to change and get back on track—so he’s not as worried about how the year will look. He still gets to play tennis, thankfully one of the safer sports, but whether he’ll try out for the spring team remains to be seen.

We’ve all learned to wear masks like we wear underwear; it’s just something you put on every day. We’ve learned to wash our hands more—not just after using the bathroom, but pretty much all the time now. We’ve learned to stay six feet apart from people, even those we want to be closer to. We’ve learned not to shake hands, but to bump elbows or wave instead. We now use hand sanitizer after filling up at the gas station, which honestly we should have been doing all along! We are living in a do or don’t world now. Do this to stay safe, don’t do that or you could get sick. The adjustment has not been easy, but sadly it is what it is.

We are living in a world that is less unified and more divided. Everyone has their own version of what staying safe looks like, yet if we all just gave an inch, we could go the extra mile in helping each other pull through this pandemic more quickly. We need to protect one another so all our kids can enjoy their firsts and lasts the way we hoped they would from the day they were born.

 I don’t like this new normal. I miss the old normal. But I’m going to go out on a limb and say this: We will never again take for granted what we had. And the day that I can fold and put away all our masks will be the day that we come out of this victorious.

Always in Health, Cyrece