An Unexpected Senior Year…
It is her senior year of high school. It is a time of great anticipation. The year started with her senior photo session at Myrtle Beach. She has grown up into a beautiful, young woman and has come into her own. Mary Grace has a job and has bought her first car. She has plans for her prom. She said “yes” to the prom dress. (I feel special, because I have seen a sneak peek and know how beautiful she looks in it). Her biggest concerns should be exams at the end of the semester. I am certain that her family had a graduation celebration of mass proportions in mind….wait…had? Past tense? How could that be? One. Dirty. Word. Coronavirus. Covid-19….a menace during the best part of her senior year of high school.
The other day, I read a post that Mary Grace wrote, and it resonated with me. I had not considered her perspective and what a sense of loss she must be feeling. You see, it is so easy for me to get caught up in how this pandemic could impact me and my family, without having empathy for the numerous ways that others, like Mary Grace and her family, are being affected. Tina - her mother, Elizabeth – her sister, and Ms. Jeanette – her grandmother might miss special moments like her prom and her high school graduation. Other people’s lives are being greatly impacted as they are having to say goodbye to terminally ill loved ones from a distance, due to restricted hospital visitation policies. Especially poignant was a picture I saw of a sweet lady I know that was crying on one side of a window, while being visited by her mother on the outside of the facility – due to this quarantine. It brings tears, even now, as I write this…
To all who are struggling with loss and the other impacts of this plague, do not despair. We don’t understand this now, but one day we will. Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.” Specifically, to you Mary Grace, I know you are disappointed, but you are precious and you are loved. Never forget that Jeremiah 29:11 says, “For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future”. We will understand all of this at some point, and one day, it will all be a memory.
Blessings ~
Lisa