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Lots of us are cooped up together, sometimes with a lover. Sometimes with a family. Sometimes with housemates. And, for some, all alone.
It’s important to remember, that if you are like most human beings, the last category — your aloneness — will occur at some stage. People relocate. People get sick. Parents die. Partners leave. And, widowhood, too, is almost inevitable. How many couples can you name in your lifetime that all died at the same moment? This means that someone, somewhere, is unexpectedly alone. It is not a contingency that we routinely prepare for, after all.
Yes, many of us are hunkered down during a worldwide crisis. Dare I write an article without mentioning its all to often heard, and contagiously repeated, name?
Many of us are driving each other crazy. We will drive each other a little crazy, but guess what? Not having your loved ones near will make you even crazier.
We evolved to love one another. It may not feel that way every minute, but be assured, like a mother grizzly, or your slobbering, obsequious, puppy dog, we evolved with love as a matter of survival.
Be prepared to be driven a bit nuts.
My husband cannot seem to remember to put away his clothes, or turn off the coffee pot. His internet addiction often makes me annoyed. But each time we offer one another a hug, we try to remind ourselves that we are in this for the long haul.
We hope to not just survive, but to thrive, so long as there is no long line for hugs and no shortage of sweet words.
Now, more than ever before we should be reaching out to the shut-ins, those who can be reached by computer, message, phone, or even a carefully sanitized, old fashioned letter. In whatever way you can, tell someone today that you care.
The one constant in all of life, and of every kind of love, is that it will change. Therefore, it is precious beyond comprehension.
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Previously published on Medium.com
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Photo credit: iStockphoto.com