I spent last night taking graduation pictures of my son and fellow graduating neighbors in our yard. It was great to be around a small group of people again, but it was much different than the hypothetical plans we had made a year ago before the coronavirus changed our lives. There were no large graduation parties, extravagant trips overseas or even the traditional graduation ceremonies everyone just takes for granted.
It could easily seem that so much was taken away from us, but I think we got more out of it than we at first realized. For months, we had my now 18-year-old son and his two younger brothers in the house together with no place to go. We played UNO, Wiffle ball, basketball, Monopoly, watched movies, and started a nightly work-out program. I truly believe very little of that would have happened if not given the opportunity to slow down, stay at home, and focus time on what is really important.
At the same time, I was working from home during this pandemic and missed out on so many opportunities. I found myself tied to my makeshift office desk trying to help people with PPP loans and Stimulus checks, and I had a hard time pulling away for lunch or to end the day anywhere near the 5 o’clock whistle. That doesn’t even take into consideration the multiple projects that seemed destined to be completed with all of this “extra time”. Instead, what I have now is stacks of paint cans ready to transition bedrooms into new teenage oases. Where did the time go to complete these projects?
What I’ve come to realize is we didn’t get more time, but it was just different and other things consumed my attention. Today my son selected his college dorm room, so he will soon be out from underneath my roof. He will be making important decisions that impact the rest of his life. I have had 18 years with him, but how many opportunities did I miss to show him the right way or help him figure out how to make difficult decisions? I’ll still have opportunities to be an influence going forward, but we only get one shot at today. If this virus was good for anything, I hope it slowed us down enough to think about the important things in life and to take the opportunity to enjoy or accomplish those things we’ve been putting off.