“April showers bring May flowers”
– English Proverb
“…for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.”
– Matthew 5:45
“…And the selfsame well from which your laughter rises was oftentimes filled with your tears.”
– Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet
I am not one to believe that every bad thing in this world happens for a reason. I’m also willing to accept that I’m too small-minded to understand the reasons for some things. Either way, it’s beyond my understanding what reason it serves for hundreds of thousands of people to get sick and tens of thousands to die. What I do know for certain, however, is that whether or not things happen for a reason, purpose can be found in every situation by looking for it.
One of the ways I’ve benefitted from the COVID-19 situation is in how much I’m learning. I’m learning that I wasn’t really prepared for life to be like this or how valuable toilet paper would become. I’m learning how much our residents support the work of our staff, and how gracious and accepting you all can be as we roll out change after change. Most of all, I’m learning that I have to take this situation one day at a time, and that there is no predicting how things will turn out. This is hard because we can’t make plans for the future. All we can do is sit around and wait as information trickles in. I can only check the news and health authority updates so many times before I start getting crazy.
My youngest daughter turned one year old over the last weekend. We took lots of pictures, sent text messages and emails, and made phone calls, but mostly we just went about our normal weekend routines. There was no party and there were no presents. It was completely different than the first birthday we had for our oldest daughter, yet no less meaningful to me. In reflecting on her birthday, I thought of the quotes above, among others. I think they are good reminders for us as we deal with this situation: We have the ability to look for the good when bad circumstances happen; viruses don’t care much about who is evil or good; and life will not be like this forever, but it will forever be changing.