The US just celebrated Memorial Day, a day we stop and give thanks to all those in the military who lost their lives in service to the country. It was not a normal celebration because of Covid 19 with some places still in a stay-at-home mode and others in various stages of opening up.

As we get into tiffs with each other and with various levels of government, we need to remember that people gave their lives so we can have these arguments. Made me mad to see the person telling off the Costco guy who was trying to enforce the company’s rules on only entering if you’re wearing a mask. He said, I’m free and you can’t make me wear a mask. Well, that’s certainly true, but then Costco doesn’t have to let you in. People died, sir, for your freedom to behave that way.

The New York Times on Sunday had the headline that the US approaches 100,000 people dead from Covid 19 or Covid 19-related issues. And then they took expensive space to list 1000 names. Wow. I’d like you to think of the fact that most of those people had at least one someone else who if didn’t care about them, knew them. Often, that number was way higher. So, the number of those affected in someway by the losses??? My math doesn’t work well, but I’m thinking nearing a half million affected by those deaths. Many of whom are the first responders working so hard to save everyone. God bless each of you and help you deal with the massiveness of this tragedy.

What about the other celebrations that we’d normally have during this time? Birthdays, anniversaries, high school and college graduations all have been altered. On our Zoom church service on Sunday, a mom shared how the snow cone truck had come to her neighborhood for her child’s 6^th birthday. My daughter and SIL celebrated their 20^th wedding anniversary, not in Hawaii as planned, but by going to the Mexican restaurant where they’d had their rehearsal dinner sitting out on their beautiful patio, with six feet or more separating tables.

In stead of doing a fun book signing at one of many places we’ve gone in the past, Wednesday I’ll be taking part in a Virtual Book Tour on Facebook. I’m with four other authors jointly doing a bit over an hour. We’ll each have our 12 minutes of fame. 🙂 It won’t be the same, but it’s something, and I’m grateful to the Book Festival Network for setting this up. I hope you have a few minutes and can stop by. I don’t know how it’s going to work exactly, but it will be LIVE. I’ll probably read from one of my books for part of that time. Another chance for me to learn something new. One of the better things about being an author.

Have you missed out on planned celebrations? How have you made accommodations for our new normal? Did you celebrate Memorial Day? Change is definitely a part of the New Normal. Love to hear from you.

Stay in. Be safe. Be well.

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