Dear friends,
Like most of you, no doubt, I seem to have settled into my new normal.
Instead of working 10 hours a day in my office in Brooklyn Heights looking out at the New York Harbor and imagining where all the huge ships are sailing as they pass by my windows, I now look at Sarasota Bay. I came to Florida on March 5th to visit with my 94-year-old mother, who spends the winter here, and the rest is history; I have not left.
Out the window, I am soothed by the flight of herons, diving of pelicans, calls of egrets, and the swaying of palm trees.
My body feels different, too. I have replaced designer scarves with shorts and t-shirts. Instead of spending hours on subways and buses, I stretch my legs more. My husband and I walk around garden paths and lakes, seven miles each day. We discovered a small park a ten-minute walk away; on the weekends we bring a thermos of tea and a picnic lunch, sit in a little alcove, and watch the flying fish shoot out of the water and glide.
I miss my grandchildren sitting on my lap and reading them stories or watching Peppa Pig and eating Cheerios. But: I am grateful for Facetime chats, Zoom visits, that I can send them gifts from Amazon, and that they send me sweet homemade movies, full of I love yous and I miss yous.
I miss my friends. But: I no longer have rushed phone calls with them—now we speak more often, longer, and with greater intimacy.
I haven’t stepped foot in a supermarket, restaurant, coffee shop, department store, or a hair or nail salon in over three months. But: I have become a master vegetarian cook; my Tuscan spinach and bean soup rivals any Italian restaurant, and what I can do with an eggplant is a wonder to behold. My husband has become our personal sommelier. Every evening we earnestly toast L’chaim! with new wines from small American vineyards.
Our important work continues to give me meaning and purpose. I meet with new clients by phone or video chat and marvel at how despite everything, here they are, still taking on the fight for their children. I schedule regular chats with all of the directors at all the schools. I consult with my incredibly hard-working attorneys on their more difficult cases, and I study the decisions coming out of the Impartial Hearing Office. What else? I am writing a children’s book, catching up on movies I never saw, streaming some TV series I hadn’t known existed, and am reading and listening to so many books. My days are busier, but somehow more productive.
And I pray. I pray twice a day with more sincerity and soulfulness than ever in my life. I pray for those I know and those I do not know. My mind repeatedly wanders to my father who died almost ten years ago. He, like my mother was a Holocaust survivor. In my imaginings, we have long conversations and I am reassured by him that life is still sweet and precious and that our new normal will morph and change for the better.
I am sending you my best wishes on this Memorial Day 2020, as I remember the heroes then and now who have served our nation, our people, and our world.
-Regina