Reflections On A Year

A year ago, I was supposed to be setting up a trip to Slovenia for two-and-a-half weeks for Paralympic Table Tennis Trials and the Open event the following week. My first monies were due the 16th (a Monday). After March 11, everything was suspended until June and then canceled when the IOC postponed the Olympics until this July.

That’s really what life has become. A plethora of maybe’s. And a million ‘who knows?’ Maybe is a word you tell your kids when they bugged you to go to Disney World, not “When will my school open, mom?” “Maybe next month, who knows, sweetie?” The world has become a question answered by a question.

Parents aren’t teachers, neither are friends of said parents. There are children who will graduate high school in their 20s because of this lost year, maybe two or three. Because the kids aren’t learning, aren’t interacting with their friends or peers. They log-in to school at 8:30 and are done by 9:45. No gym class or recess. No passing notes or playing pranks. No eating crappy lunch food. High Schoolers will graduate via Zoom or Microsoft Teams. FaceTime even.

We are creating another ‘Lost Generation.’ In addition to everything else, Covid has separated everyone from everything. I didn’t see my dad in the last 16 months of his life because…