I like to imagine that just a few years from now, we’ll look at photos from this time, like these of our recent trip for ice cream, and think it so odd that our spots in line were marked in chalk – six feet apart – outside the ice cream shop. Or that only one customer was allowed inside at a time.
We’ll say things like, “Remember when we had to stand on lines and circles inside and outside of stores to maintain social distance? And wear masks? Remember when everyone except for right-wing lunatics, clueless idiots, and conspiracy theory morons wore masks to prevent the spread of infection?”
I might chime in about the reduction in traffic on the roads, the yellow police tape wrapped around playgrounds, and the shamrocks still hanging in schoolhouse windows in mid-May.
Also how hard it was to find a place to pee.
But hopefully we’ll also look back on photos like these and stare in wonder at how much has remained normal despite the societal upheaval around us. We still ate ice cream. We still found ways to smile and laugh and be silly.
I suspect that years from now, we’ll be saying things like, “I don’t know how we did it,” and “How in the world did we navigate such a strange and frightening world?”
My answer will be, “Together. As a family.”
