Two weeks ago, we celebrated Jor-El‘s birthday with a Zoom party which was absolutely how we always planned it. Except not at all, because hey, we’re still living in a pandemic!
The real plan was very us – the Yankees were playing on his birthday, which happened to be a Sunday, which happens to be the day we go to home games during the season. I would have also convinced him to spend his birthday morning in Central Park at NYRR’s Run to Breathe. It was a very easy, straight forward, and standard plan. One of those days that’s fun, but not overly exciting, because it’s something you always do. You’re looking forward to it, but not TOO much. You know what I’m talking about.
We all had those plans. Keyword: HAD.
On the morning of Jor-El’s actual birthday, the one in the middle of a pandemic and not so much the one we had planned for, it was raining. Not a downpour that would have canceled a baseball game, but just enough rain to make it into the “Remember when we sat at Yankee Stadium in the WORST weather?” files. In other words, we would have gone, been cold and wet, and then complained at the deli afterwards. We’ve done it before, and we’ll do it again, but it’s not usually something I’m excited about. It’s wet and cold! You might be thinking that it’s not an ideal way to spend a birthday, either. I’ve done it myself. It’s not! And my birthday is in the much warmer month of August.
But there are a lot of things I would have done that day to have been able to sit at Yankee Stadium, cold, in our ponchos that don’t keep the rain out, watching baseball.
I’ve been talking a lot to people about the things we miss most during this quarantine period and what we can’t wait to get back to. A lot of those things are what we took for granted before all of this happen. In my head, spending Sundays at the ballpark was just a given. I always looked forward to the April NYRR races (there’s one every week!), but I didn’t REALLY appreciate them. They were just always there!
That’s what we do. We take things for granted.
It’s not always a bad thing. It’s good to get used to the good things in your life, whatever they may be, and not always be living in fear of them being taken away at any moment. That would be really stressful. We all have that awareness, but it’s usually in the back of our minds as we eat at our favorite neighborhood restaurant without giving it much thought. If we constantly held the idea that everything we love could suddenly vanish in our brains, we would never leave the house. It has to be hidden, at least most of the time, in order to make it through the day.
So we forget to ooze appreciation for everything we have that we’re lucky enough to put in our regular routines.
When this is over, we won’t forget. On the morning of that first race back, I will jump out of bed, even if it’s before 6am. I’ll probably cry at the finish line, even if it’s only a 4 mile run. Let’s be real, I’m gonna cry at the start too. I will have all the warm fuzzies thinking about how amazing it is that we can all line up together again. I will be so excited for the first baseball game of the year (this year? next year? who knows!) that I won’t complain about the massive line to get in or the people who wander around as if there aren’t forty thousand other people there with them. It’ll be like I’m six years old again and going to my first game ever.
Time will go on, things will get back to normal, and then we won’t be as excited anymore.
Everything will, once again, be routine. That’s what happens, because it’s what has to happen. Remember, it’s how we make it through the day. Just another Sunday starting in Central Park before the sun and finishing with a pastrami sandwich at the deli after a Yankees win. No big deal. It won’t make me want to cry. And your “thing” won’t either. Beers after work with your co-workers? Family dinners? Birthday parties out in the world? Just another day. We’ll take it all for granted once again.
And that is the moment this will officially be over.
I’m counting the days.
Author: Rachel
Rachel is a licensed therapist and co-founder of Viva Wellness. She gets most of her inspiration for the blog while on the run, and if you ever need to find her, she’s probably in Central Park. If she’s not running, you’ll find her planning the next time she’s going to eat, exploring all things wellness in NYC, or raising her stress level by watching her sports teams.
