Lasting Effects of the Pandemic

I did not know John and I would make a spur-of-the-moment drive to Tennessee and have such a wonderFULL four days with our daughter, Stacey, and her family, including our 6 month-old great-grandson, Jackson. My heart is so full, my eyes keep running over….

A lasting effect of the pandemic.

One of the lasting effects of the pandemic is an open schedule which allowed us to pick up and go. Another lasting effect is the down-on-my-knees gratitude for surviving. Not only have we survived the virus, but we see now how we have also survived the thought-virus of “MY WAY IS THE WAY.”

Ours is not the only family that navigated the pandemic with physical isolation being secondary to the pain of emotional distance, this dynamic having played itself out for many, if not most. This dynamic plays itself out over-and-over in every human life as the eight worldly concerns (conveniently divided into four pairs of seeming opposites): gain and loss, praise and blame, good reputation and bad reputation, and pleasure and pain.

Did the dissipation of distance and the opening of our hearts occur because of our mutual love for Jackson? Caring for him, delighting in him, cooperating with one another on his behalf surely has produced a welcome lasting effect.

When I captured this photo of Jackson’s face-palm, his mom shared that this was his pose in the ultrasound images while he was in the womb, and his dad said that was the pose as he entered the world! The gesture is found in many cultures as a display of frustration, disappointment, exasperation, embarrassment, horror, shock, surprise, exhaustion, sarcasm, or incredulous disbelief. One friend commented that it is was his way of saying, “What have I gotten myself into?”

A lasting effect of the pandemic likely has all of humanity experiencing some of that feeling….

But, everything holds its opposite, as is seen in this photo of a very contented Jackson in the arms of his Uncle Adam.

“We live in illusion and the appearance of things. There is a reality…. We are that reality. When you understand this, you see that you are nothing, and being nothing, you are everything. That is all.” ~ Buddha / Kalu Rinpoche

And the older I get, the more thankful I feel, for the life I’ve had and all the life I’m living still. My heart still rings with John’s playing guitar and singing those lyrics from “The Older I Get” by Alan Jackson.

Another lasting effect of the pandemic!

The Older I Get

The older I get
The more I think
You only get a minute, better live while you’re in it
‘Cause it’s gone in a blink
And the older I get
The truer it is
It’s the people you love, not the money and stuff
That makes you rich
And if they found a fountain of youth
I wouldn’t drink a drop and that’s the truth
Funny how it feels I’m just getting to my best years yet
The older I get
The fewer friends I have
But you don’t need a lot when the ones that you got
Have always got your back
And the older I get
The better I am
At knowing when to give
And when to just not give a damn
And if they found a fountain of youth
I wouldn’t drink a drop and that’s the truth
Funny how it feels I’m just getting to my best years yet
The older I get
And I don’t mind all the lines
From all the times I’ve laughed and cried
Souvenirs and little signs of the life I’ve lived
The older I get
The longer I pray
I don’t know why, I guess that I’ve
Got more to say
And the older I get
The more thankful I feel
For the life I’ve had and all the life I’m living still

Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: Adam Wright / Hailey Whitters / Sarah Turner
The Older I Get lyrics © Bluewater Music Corp., Hori Pro Entertainment Group