This is such an emotional time. The uncertainty of the whole thing hitting our world can bring up so many feelings in us, including fear, anger, and sadness.
My own family is no exception.
The other night, one of my kids sent a text on a family thread to say that she was missing us and feeling it a lot right then. She was having a hard time seeing the end of all this, including our separation. “I wish nobody was working, then in 14 days we could all be together.”
I have often been comforted by the closeness of the original 4 of us. We are and always will be there for each other, even when some of us move very far away for what seemed like a such a loooong time!
We are a family of big feelers, we easily cry at sappy movies, laugh very hard at extremely silly jokes, and alway, always hug goodbye. (We all agree that no hugging is probably one of the hardest things to deal with in this new normal.) My hubby’s expression of his feelings may be a tad different from the three of us women sometimes, but he reminds us that he is always listening even if he can’t get a word in edgewise. That’s just our life together.
To see, even by text, that one of us was feeling low was like a shot right to my heart. Writing this now brings up deep feelings of sadness that we are having to be where we are right now.
We all felt a pull to support and be supported. So we talked it out. We offered love to her and shared what we’re feeling right now and the joy in what we have together. There was no attempt to find a solution or to fix any of us. We simply let ourselves be open and accepting of ourselves and each other.
It’s hard for a parent who wants to fix, make better, kiss the boo boos away, even when your kids are grown with kids of their own. It’s always hard, but seems harder now.
This feels like a message to us helpers. Our normal practices have be taken away from many of us and we’re left with the basics of communicating from the heart.
I have one question for you to think about…
What if, when this is all done, it turns out that simply listening and loving was the best supportive thing to do all along?
Ps Feel free to hit reply with your own story that you need heard.
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With much love,
xo Dianna
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