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Musings in Isolation

Years ago, PBS aired a television series about a family who was temporarily placed in a “little house on the prairie” type situation, as a learning experience and obviously for viewers’ voyeuristic enjoyment. When Jake and I heard about it, we both agreed that we wished our kids could be put right smack into our childhood for some perspective. This last month has been a huge learning curve for so many people. I’m speaking, of course, of the banal and the frivolous, because to speak about the deaths and tragedy is unspeakable. But it’s felt like an era long gone.
Over the last two years, I’ve become frustrated with the status quo. Everyone in my life too busy to hang out, my own family constantly on the run. Between lacrosse practices and instrument lessons and photography sessions and Jake’s traveling and all of the random little errands that fill a day, it was like all of the people I loved were standing just far enough away that I couldn’t reach them. Life felt a little blurry.My mom used to quote John Lennon a lot- “life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans” and it never felt more true than it has recently, with my children all hitting the teenage years.So for one month, they’ve all begun to see what life was like (to a certain extent) for 10 year old Jake and Kerensa, in rural areas of 1987. The long walks to catch snakes. The large meals with family around an actual table. The feeling excited when you find a movie to rent. The board games upon board games upon board games. The comforting monotony of a long rainy day, the excitement when someone calls on the phone.This hasn’t been perfect. We have had arguments and we have had tears (well, only mine but still), but life seems different. Clearer. I finally finished household organization that had been waiting since we moved in. I finally feel like a more present parent.I want the tragic parts of this to end. But a lot of it, I want to stay. I don’t think I want to go back to “normal”. I want a new normal. I want to figure out how to do that. How do we keep it so that we can preserve the environment that is flourishing right now? How do we keep it so that the family unit once again becomes familial? How do we slow life down so it stays in focus? How we can we rediscover the simplicity of 1987 (from the perspective of a child, of course)?

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