Aging with Grace

Life is not about how fast you run, or how high you climb, but how well you bounce.

Winnie-the-Pooh
A.A. Milne

To me, Memorial Day weekend has always signified the beginning of summer. School is out, the weather is getting warmer, gardens are beginning to sprout, festivals and concerts are beginning. As I planned a Memorial Day cookout for just my son, my husband, and myself, the realization hit me that many of the things we look forward to as the rites of summer won’t be happening this year. For many years, we have hosted a cookout for family and friends on the Fourth of July. Later in the day, we all pack up and head to the park for a concert and fireworks. Of course, it isn’t possible to gather a  large group of people together this year. No cookout or concert. I wonder if there will be fireworks? Would we watch them from our cars? What about all the people who are dependent on these events for their livelihood?

The effects of these challanging times reach out in so many ways. I have mentioned in some of my posts about growing up in a small, resort town in Northern Wisconsin. The summer tourist trade is such an important part of the town’s economy. Will people still fly in to stay in their vacation homes or rent cabins at the resorts? What about the restaurants, gift shops and fishing guides?

We’ll get through this, although we can’t pretend it’s going to be easy. Fashioning a new normal may depend on how well we are able to bounce.