Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
Let’s face it. Things are not good. People are dying. Fear is at an all-time high — and that includes an odd fear of each other.
I recently sent this text message to an old friend, a fellow Amazings fan: What I would do to just be able to watch the Mets blow a six-run lead in the bottom of the ninth!
Most of us hope and pray for the day when things to get back to normal! But I don’t.
Yes, I’m saddened by the many, many deaths, especially when I see what’s happening on Long Island, where I was born and raised, and where most of my family and friends still reside.
I want my kids to go outside and play with their friends without fear. (Although, I would argue that it’s not they who have the fear.) I want to be able to talk to someone less than six-feet away or go food shopping without a damn mask.
I want COVID-19 to go away just as much as everybody.
But I don’t want things to go back the way they were before the pandemic.
I’m truly enjoying the extended time I’m spending with my family. I spend more time with my boys than ever before.
Our living room has become a classroom, a gym, a wrestling ring. Now that it’s warm, our youngest has created an obstacle course outside for our family to exercise daily; and my oldest and I have played catch almost every day.
My wife has started Home Ec classes, so our boys can be self-sufficient, God forbid if they have to. We take family walks together. Play games together.
My wife and I are communicating more, spending more time together, and growing closer.
People, it appears, are generally becoming more caring. This week our Church rang its bells at 7 pm in solidarity with the people in NYC who lean out their windows, fire escapes and balconies nightly to celebratethe efforts of healthcare workers across the Big Apple.
As a whole, we are placing more value in the things that are important and putting less value in the things we’ve discovered we can easily live without.
Our police again are being valued! We no longer take our doctors and nurses for granted. Teachers have regained the respect of parents, and parents are being valued by teachers more than ever!
Above all, after generations of focusing on youth over wisdom, our seniors are being valued more than ever — beyond the role of babysitter.
This list goes on and on.
Daily, I pray to the Almighty that He spare our home, our town, and our nation. That He makes this season a true Passover and bless all who have suffered with a true Easter.
I want COVID-19 to go away! Forever!
But, I don’t want things to go back to normal. I want some things to stay exactly the way they are now.
James Henry is the author of Corporation YOU: A Business Plan for the Soul, and two children’s books The Second Prince and Klaus: The Gift-giver to ALL! For six years, James taught At-Risk kids in Los Angeles. Today, he lives in New York where he continues to teach and write. To contact James or book an interview, please contact Mark of Goldman & McCormick PR at (516) 639-0988 or Mark@goldmanmccormick.com.
Corporation YOU 
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