It’s a beautiful, sunny afternoon.  I am outside on the driveway with my youngest daughter, on my knees making shamrocks and rainbows out of sidewalk chalk.  It is St. Patrick’s Day, after all.  She adds a big pot of gold at the end of her rainbow.  I add mountains and meadows below mine.  My daughter cheerfully compliments me on my coloring skills, and asks me to trace the outline of her body.  I have her trace me, too, and we make it look like our chalk outlines are holding hands. 

* * * * *

In the interest of full disclosure, and to put this afternoon in context, we began our social distancing experience with a day of “home church” that more closely approximated World War 3 than the peaceful Sabbath oasis I had imagined it would be.  We have had irritations and meltdowns and mandatory “social distancing” from each other in different rooms of the same house.  Some days–or hours–in the past couple weeks have definitely gone more smoothly than others. 

It’s not all shamrocks and rainbows here.   

And yet,  as I reflect on our first two weeks of “social distancing,”  these two hours in the sun are what stand out most to me.  That may be partly because the weather was nice, so it illuminates the memory in my mind.  However,  I think it’s also partly because of the novelty of it.  I can’t remember the last time I went outside and did sidewalk chalk with my kids.  I’m not shaming myself for that, but I’m also not proud of it. 

That Tuesday, however, with the sun in my eyes and my hands covered in chalk dust, I spontaneously remembered a story I heard over a decade ago.  It was one my mom told me back when I was pregnant with either my second or third child, when I was constantly sick and overwhelmed with trying to do anything besides lay on the couch and keep food down, and yet somehow had to keep taking care of my other child(ren).   

The story was about another woman my mother had known, who as a young mother with small children was put on bed rest.  Every day before her husband went to work he would set her up in the middle of the kitchen floor with everything she needed for the day.  Her littles would play around her, and she would make them peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch.   As I remember hearing it, this was one of the hardest periods of her life, and she was miserable.   But the most amazing part of the story (besides the fact that she survived it!), was that later, reflecting back on this time in their lives, her older children declared that they had the best memories of that time!   What had felt frustratingly overwhelming and demoralizing to this woman had been amazingly rewarding for her children.  They had loved having her undivided attention while playing with and around her on the kitchen floor!  The children were not bothered about all that she could not do for them, they just soaked up her time and attention. 

Luckily, I have never been put on bed rest and in some ways I hate to even draw the comparison between spending each day restricted to the kitchen floor and merely being asked to remain comfortably homebound with the goal of “flattening the curve” as COVID-19 spreads rapidly.  I am healthy and well, and frankly a “homebody” who doesn’t mind staying home most of the time anyway.  I recognize that it could be–and is, for many–much, much worse. 

However, the mental image of this mom, playing with her kiddos and making PB&Js on the kitchen floor, inspires and reminds me of the potential impact this unique window of time could make in my children’s lives.

It’s possible that with concerted effort, maybe–just maybe— years down the road my children will have amazing memories of social distancing. 

Maybe they will remember it as a time of sidewalk chalk and games and read-alouds and movie nights and home-cooked meals. 

I have no doubt that my children will remember this bizarre and unusual time period.   And I expect that they will remember the anxiety and uncertainty, the toilet-paper shortage,  the unexpected shift to online school from home, and the disappointment of canceled events and extracurricular activities. 

Still, my hope is that the more difficult aspects of social distancing will be…

…couched in memories of roller-blading in the unfinished basement together;

…blanketed in evenings staying up late to watch a show together after a day full of self-taught pre-calculus;

…comforted by sleepovers in an older sister’s bedroom;

…balanced by wonder at all the innovative solutions and amazing and uplifting resources being made available in the community;

… and wrapped in a spirit of gratitude, unity, service, and sacrifice. 

(It also wouldn’t hurt if it was all recalled through the lens of a very clean home.  Pretty please?!?)

Seriously, though.  My goal–and my invitation–is to make social distancing memorable for all the right reasons. 

* In a climate of unpredictability, let’s emphasize the joy of unexpected blessings.

* In a period of staying home and standing six feet away from people, may we let our “hearts [be] knit together in unity and in love one towards another” (Mosiah 18:21).

* In a time of turmoil, may we seek out the sunshine, “lift up [our] eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh [our] help” (Psalm 121:1), and nurture those around us as Christ would.  

Let’s be deliberate in how we spend our time and energies.   Let’s concentrate on loving each other. Let’s focus on seeing–and creating–the good. 

That’s what will make 2020 truly unforgettable. 

I know that some families are dealing with much more devastating effects of the current climate than I am… job-loss and financial uncertainty for some; crazy-long work hours in high-stress environments for others; to say nothing of the effects of the actual sickness, and even loss of loved ones.  As such, tomorrow I am joining with many others in a day of fasting and prayer for relief from COVID-19.  I definitely don’t mean to make light of the hardships that abound.  To the contrary, I feel all the more blessed that given what so many are suffering, we are merely being asked to #STAY HOME.  Regardless of the severity of our circumstances, however, I believe there are always compensatory blessings that each of us can look for and claim.  We can always choose what we focus on and thereby influence what we will remember and take away from our experience.  What good will you remember from this time?