While I have enjoyed the privilege of not getting up early and preparing myself to head into a brick and mortar setting, I don’t like the idea of having my work at home. For the most part, I have always kept work separate from home. Except for the five years I worked from home…needless to say I resigned for a reason. While walking into a school building every morning, I took for granted the smiling faces associated with a pleasant “Good morning!”. I miss the students asking me the same question 25 times only to interrupt me and tell me “I got it now!” during the 26th explanation. And I definitely miss the camaraderie in the afternoon when the final bell would sound.

I took for granted going to church on Sunday and stopping by the park in the afternoon. While I can still walk in the park, I can no longer sit on any equipment or park benches. I took for granted the busyness and laughter of kids running and playing. All is  quiet now because as soon as you approach an area, people start to scatter.

I took for granted the freedom of walking into the grocery store at my own discretion. Now I have to wait for a certain number of people to leave before I can enter. And they have a restricted number of people that can walk down each aisle. Nevermind the fact that some stuff I  determine I’ll do without because certain areas are too crowded to step into and deal with the hustle and bustle of people trying to move about as quickly as possible, particularly the fruits and veggie section.

I took for granted mingling with parents, coaches and other athletes at track meets and basketball games. Sitting in crowds so large  you’re constantly saying, “excuse me” for stepping on someone’s foot or accidentally kicking someone in the back. But in those times, all was forgiven because in that moment we were a family.

More importantly, I took for granted how busy I had become with life. I was busy living it and not enjoying it. Busy being busy. These last few weeks my mind and body have revealed to me it was time for a break. Just the idea of slowing down has my mind spinning as if I absolutely need something to consume me from sun up to sun down.

In these moments, I’ve realized how I’ve taken for granted how pleasant my very own neighbors are. Instead of looking forward to parents at the track meets, I look forward to seeing their smiling faces walking in the evening, playing basketball in the front yard or the pleasantries exchanged walking to and from the mailbox. What I really took for granted was family time. We were so engrossed with all of our “extracurricular” often times we failed to assemble at the dinner table. I took for granted how important Game Night or Movie Night is to our family.

While I miss life as we have known it for quite some time, I will not take for granted this very moment. Instead of reminiscing on what used to be, I will focus on what it is right now.