We were on the last non-stop flight from Buenos Aires to NYC when airlines experienced widespread groundings. We’d been in South America for several weeks and largely disconnected from world events. It was at Ezeiza airport where we learned about COVID in the United States.
Mine and my husband’s careers, at the time, required constant traveling. In all our years together we’d never spent more than a week’s time in our home, 24/7. How was this going to look? We’ve been together over 20 years but we’d never been underfoot. Never long enough to get on each other’s nerves.
Lockdown showed us we needn’t worry about the retirement years. We rediscovered one another, even learned new things about each other. I started gardening again; Mark had heard me talk of growing food, hunting, and fishing in my youth but he’d never seen me actually do it. I taught him how to fish and he loved it! He drew the line at hunting; the grocery store aisle is more his speed.
We aren’t blind to the fact the COVID years were extremely difficult for millions of people. We were and are fortunate, many were not. We embraced the quiet, the stillness, rediscovering hobbies and interests long abandoned, getting to know our neighbors in a more profound way. I admit I miss that quietness, especially in 2025.
We were on the last non-stop flight from Buenos Aires to NYC when airlines experienced widespread groundings. We’d been in South America for several weeks and largely disconnected from world events. It was at Ezeiza airport where we learned about COVID in the United States.
Mine and my husband’s careers, at the time, required constant traveling. In all our years together we’d never spent more than a week’s time in our home, 24/7. How was this going to look? We’ve been together over 20 years but we’d never been underfoot. Never long enough to get on each other’s nerves.
Lockdown showed us we needn’t worry about the retirement years. We rediscovered one another, even learned new things about each other. I started gardening again; Mark had heard me talk of growing food, hunting, and fishing in my youth but he’d never seen me actually do it. I taught him how to fish and he loved it! He drew the line at hunting; the grocery store aisle is more his speed.
We aren’t blind to the fact the COVID years were extremely difficult for millions of people. We were and are fortunate, many were not. We embraced the quiet, the stillness, rediscovering hobbies and interests long abandoned, getting to know our neighbors in a more profound way. I admit I miss that quietness, especially in 2025.
Hauntingly beautifully incisively sad. Then, now, still.
as good and as poignant as when written...maybe more so in lieu of our current state of being...