Dearest seniors, you have been handed a curveball that none of the adults in your life have ever had to deal with. We are mourning with you and we are hurting for you. But we also believe in you. We believe in your passion. We believe in your resilience. We believe in the future that you are able to create with this seemingly impossible blank slate fate has handed you.
Reading opens up our world and helps reinforce the idea that we don't know it all, and that it's ok that we don't know everything. When we read a variety of perspectives or books that challenge long-held ideas and force us to defend or even adjust our world-view, we grow as individuals and as citizens. We learn that answers are not easy and the world is complicated and even the smartest people don't have all of the answers and sometimes get it wrong.
We need to do better. We need to care for each other, particularly the weakest amongst us, as we search for the answers that will bring us to a new, better normal. We need to earn the trust of our neighbors, acting in a way that allows them to truly believe that we are acting in their best interests, not just our own. And we need to accept that change is inevitable and help gently guide each other through to the other side.
It was so good to sleep just a little closer to the ground on a solid bed with a pretty headboard behind it. A 10-year dream had finally come true.
We figured the handful of tasks that we brought home would keep us busy for a little while, something to distract us from the fact that we couldn't take the family out of the house and all we had was our work, school, and fruitless attempts to keep us busy. We knew it was wishful thinking, but we optimistically believed we would be satisfied.
Accepting the Unexpected Journey 