daughter and son-in-law, both haggard after
three months of attempting to work from home
while juggling child care, were hesitant to re-
enroll the boys. Life, though, must be lived,
and its normal cadences and rhythms need
to be reclaimed when it’s reasonably safe to
do so.
And therein lies our dilemma.
Our grandsons need to be in day care, but
their return there — with all the attendant
exposure to a vast network of other families
whose infection could be telegraphed to us —
is fraught with risk.
It’s a morbid calculation that millions of
Americans like us are having to make as our
states steadily reopen their economies. Patio
dining or takeout? Home hair coloring or
masked salon visit? Quick grandson fix or
resumed quarantine?
COVID-19 hasn’t gone anywhere, so — for the
most part — neither have we. We’re back to
masked drive-bys, separation, and a silenced
swing. And it hurts.
There is hope, though, of sustained
togetherness. Of sharing daily life in real
time, the way we’d imagined it when we
left the Cape. Of getting back into the
swing of things.
In the meantime, we’re taking our cues
from Cedar, still a toddler, and making some
baby steps: We’re planning a few days in
August when both families can reunite at
the seashore.
We’ll all have to quarantine for it. Again. But it
will be worth it.