The announcement by the Governor in May that we are headed to the final phase 5 that technically reopens our State was welcome news to our community. The lifting of mask guidelines and social distancing in most places for those vaccinated felt liberating in some ways, and awkward in others. While we still utilize masks in our schools, it has been nice to be able to shake hands, meet in person and when appropriate give a hug as opposed to touching fists or elbows. Despite liking that we can do it, being cautious still seems to be a thought we have in the back of our minds.
While being able to be oneself in most social situations feels good, the impact of the pandemic over the past nearly 16 months has left an impact that many will need to work through.
Related to Little Friends, we were concerned that the children and adults we care for would struggle with the requirements being put in place related to masks and social distancing. This has been easy to deal with compared to the impact of isolation and not being able to be social with friends and missed family. The opportunity to now be with friends and loved ones is bringing great joy to the adults we care for. Not having this in their lives was only partially made up with Zoom visits, and the social impact of being with one another will no doubt be a source for doctoral studies and research in the years to come.
When I wrote down the title of my article for this month in Positively Naperville, I knew that I was forcing myself to pause and think about what the pandemic has taught us.
I think that we all learned that we are more flexible and adaptive to situations than we gave ourselves credit for. I think that we learned that when necessary, we can be disciplined in a manner that enables care for ourselves and each other. I think that we also learned that being patient sometimes is not easy and waiting for the day when we return to normalcy could not come soon enough.
I also think that the experiences we all have had have left some impact that we do not know how it will play out in the time to come.
However, knowing that we will be able to lean on family and friends is comforting and we’ve re-learned how important this is to one another. The good news is that we will be able to see one another and how nice is that!
