The year 2020 will go down in history as one of the worst years of this generation. The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the world as we know it in so many different ways. People are working from home and going to school remotely. Everyone is staying at home, restaurants and most public places are closed. People are staying far apart from their acquaintances, old friends, or family.

The hardest part of the pandemic crisis is not the constant hand washing and sanitizing, it is not wearing a mask everywhere you go and not being able to leave your house, and it is not even the toilet paper and paper towel shortage. The hardest part has been keeping and growing relationships.

Relationships, especially with family, are things that society, as a whole, has taken for granted. It usually can be assumed that family – sisters, brothers, aunts and uncles, moms and dads, and grandparents – will always be there and be able to lean on each other. That everyone will always have unconditional love and acceptance.

What has been forgotten is that we have lost touch with each other – even if we are right next to each other and live in the same house. Seemingly everyone has gotten so busy with technology, like phones and computers, that they very rarely speak to each other normally. The hustle and bustle that is everyday life tends to get in the way and people no longer take time to “smell the roses,” so the saying goes.

With the pandemic, people are forced to be with each other day in and day out with no escape and no real distractions. Even if one works from home, people are still together; life is much different from the former commuting, working at the office, and having other people outside of one’s home to be with. Now people are learning how to get along with each other and how to communicate with one another, again. 

People are having to learn about others and what they like and dislike. People are being forced to talk, communicate, and tolerate each other. People are learning that others have changed over time, and a lot have failed to notice because we are so busy with outside distractions. People are essentially learning how to be with each other and how to love each other again. 

For some it is remembering why they fell in love and all they had in common, and for others it is realizing that things are too difficult to overcome. It can be strange how family dynamics have changed during it all. Things that were once done by only some members of the family, like cooking or cleaning, are now done by everyone – some who never would have done it before. Throughout this process, people are learning how to communicate with each other.

People are learning to respect each other – with differences and similarities. People are learning how to love again and how to be friends with each other.

People are learning how to truly know each other again and reinvent themselves and their relationships with their families. For the first time in a long time, people are listening to their elders and learning from them, as well. People are learning to cherish family and understand that they don’t have all the time in the world with those we love.

People should learn what they can while we can, and share time and themselves with family like tomorrow is not promised, because in reality – it is not. 

Relationships with families are growing and evolving, like our world is. These relationships will hopefully bring more love, joy, and happiness than ever before. Hopefully, people are learning not to take each other for granted and learning from each other along the way.

Learning to love again in a way that is pure, unrestricted, and perfect in every way.