Sit & Write #154
Greetings, friends!
This newsletter is coming to you from Southern California. I'm here on my mother's couch watching game shows, despite all my anxiety about covid-era flying (side note: like 90% of people were unmasked at every airport I stepped foot in today, which feels BIZARRE), because this Wednesday marks 10 years since my dad unexpectedly died.
I sat in front of that paragraph for a long time. I suppose I don't have much to say about it--enough time has passed that the grief has rounded out. And I think grief is more likely to flare on the insignificant calendar days--with a random association, probably something sensory. Instead, I'm acutely feeling the time I've (we've) lost to the pandemic. A midwestern friend I haven't seen since 2019 happens to be here this week, just a few miles away. I haven't seen their kid, my unofficial nephew, since he was 4 or 5. My family is older, I'm older, and the time spent apart makes it so palpable.
I'm not throwing my mask to the curb just y…