"It will be all right"
My family and close friends recognize that we are coming up on five years since Lisa died. For me, the grief is still painful. The memories are still pretty raw when I allow them to creep into my consciousness (and even times when I’m not expecting them).
Recently, I had a “grief burst”---a time when grief burst into my everyday life when I wasn’t expecting it. The nurse at the doctor’s office said to my husband and me “It’ll be all right”. Those words were an inside joke with our family. It referenced a time when I said those words to Lisa, my sister and my niece. When I said it what was really implied was it would be all right for me, but not the others around me. On a family vacation, I wanted the bedroom lights on so that I could read in bed. But those in the same room, who were trying to go to sleep, wanted the lights out. I told them, “Just close your eyes. It’ll be all right”.
Lisa, with her dry sense of humor, often referred to that line of “It will be all right”. Sometimes those words can kind of be dismissive. And that’s what Lisa would make humorous references to.
“You scraped your knee? Just put a band-aid on it. It’ll be all right”.
“You put too much salt on your potatoes? Just add some ketchup. It’ll be all right”.
The hem is coming out on your dress? Just put some duct tape on it. It’ll be all right.
It’s also true that I’ve said those words when trying to reassure or comfort my daughters. Sometimes it’s just nice to know that someone is on your side and wants hear those words whether or not a person can absolutely know for sure that a situation will be all right.
When it comes to dealing with the pandemic, I want to hear the experts say that it will be all right sooner or later. I long to have a time where I don’t have to fear getting sick or even dying from COVID-10. I really, really want to know that the world will be all right again.