Seven Things I Miss

Every month I film a video to put on our school Flipgrid to get students and staff “socially” at a distant involved.  This month’s prompt was what I miss most due to Covid-19.  So, I thought I would do a list of the seven things I miss most…

1. I miss Bible study.  My social life revolved around different groups that I belong to.  The Monday night Bible study group, Giana’s Club, Rise Women’s group, and my Franciscan Fraternity.  Or taking classes at the diocese- I was a couple classes away from getting my Master Catechist Certificate.  After working all day, it was such an encouragement to meet people in person and grow in my faith…  The Rise Women’s group is the only one that has managed to remain active through Zoom and I truly appreciate our monthly check-ins.
   
2. I miss being able to go into any Catholic parish to pray in front of the Blessed Sacrament.  One of my ways of dealing with stress or the downs of my disability was to run into the bosom of the church.  I find it so wonderfully healing and uplifting to be able to pray inside our beautiful parishes.  Sometimes just silently sitting the pew inside holy places is all my soul needs.  While I am glad that Mass has returned to my diocese – I miss being inside the actual building.
   
3. I miss visits to the salon!  My hair and nails have been in a state of disarray.  While I am not a girl who visits them frequently, I do enjoy having a gel manicure, a French-tip pedicure and my bangs trimmed.  Sometimes going to salon motivates me to invest in my look- right now I live in comfortable clothes and a braid.
   
4. I miss hanging out with friends.  A couple friends have had babies during quarantine and I have yet to meet their little, bundles of joy.  Of course, I miss just being in the same room with them catching up and nurturing our friendship.
   
5. I miss traveling.  Oh, how I miss the planning and preparing for my next world adventure.  Usually, I travel with a church group and right now we are not even seeing each other locally so traveling together is out of the question.
   
6. I miss going in to work.  I have a little bit of a drive due to traffic to and from work- and I thought I would never miss the commute, but I miss not being able to be at my school with my colleagues and students.  I hate distant learning and look forward to day that I can return to work completely.
   
7. I miss having a choice.  While I am quite happy at home, I miss having a choice to leave my house.  I haven’t been able to do social things with nephew and it blows!

I think what I miss being in the company of others doing those freedoms I took for granted.  My county is starting to slowly reopen and I am super excited as we move towards back to normal.  What do you miss?