I haven’t done the slightest bit of research. I didn’t google a thing. And still, I bet I can tell you the number 1 wish of people around the world…

We all wish things would just go back to normal.

This past weekend, I hand washed my car in my driveway. For whatever reason, washing my car has become rather cathartic for me. And on that day, I was having what my friend Dougall and I call a “covid fatigue day.” While washing my car, my mind got stuck in a sort of loop. I just kept thinking “I’m washing my car on a Saturday. A perfectly normal Saturday thing to do. Yup! Just washing my car on a Saturday.” That was my comfort in that moment. That what was going on in the world was unrelated to my current activity and pandemic was not stopping me from doing this normal thing.

If you read last week’s blog, then you know my family went through a rather traumatic February. If you missed it, you can find that blog here. The day before I washed my car, I had a very poignant moment reminding me of just how beautiful normal can be. Just how precious it is. I was walking down the hall of my home when I looked up to see Jace doing what he does. Watching the world go by. We call it Sheltie-TV. This was normal. And life had been anything but normal for Jace in February.

Suddenly I had a frog in my throat and a tear running down my face. But the emotions were of gratitude and relief. This was normal. This was how life had been for years pre-February. And now that we were on the other side of our scare with Jace, suddenly normal was profoundly precious.

I think that as the world begins to right itself in 2021, there are going to be a lot of “normal” things we realize have become profoundly precious. Just hugging people comes immediately to mind. If pandemic has taught us anything, I hope we have learned that the list of things that we took for granted that are actually magical is very, very long. And that as “normal” comes back into our lives, the best thing we can do is to remember that these normal things are a priceless gift of life.

I believe I have been permanently changed by the pandemic. At least I hope I have. I want to remember grasping for normal so I never forget how wonderful it is once we have it back.

Angel blessings,

~Radleigh