When
I announced my retirement effective at the end of this year, I had no idea
whatsoever that it would turn out like this. None at all.
I
had expected my Mondays through Fridays to have a normalcy to them. Greeting kids
as they got off the buses. Doing the Pledge, the Moment of Silence, and a
message to the kids and staff. Signing purchase orders, wandering into
classrooms, watching kids learn and teachers teach- the very best part of my
day(s). Supervising the cafeteria during lunch and talking with or teasing the
kids as I do so. Harassing my office staff or a teacher or two if they wander
my way. Catching a game or a performance.
Then
home. Kim would go to Cross Fit. We’d eat something lite. I’d do some writing
or some reading, sometimes both. Hannah would call and tell me about her day
either on her way home from school or on her way to the gym. Emily would text
or call about her classes, mostly her work for the nonprofit.
Normal,
everyday kinds of things. A good life. A comfortable life.
Now,
a New Normal.
Em
can’t travel out of state or she will have to self-quarantine because of her
job at the nonprofit. She can’t work out because her gym is closed. Her classes
are now online and she has no idea if she will have a graduation or not. Many
of her friends have left for home already.
Hannah
teaches from home using online platforms. Her gym is closed so she runs in a
park- until they close. Her fiancé, Alex, works from home. Kim and I are
planning on spending the day with them tomorrow. A break for us and for them.
Kim’s
Cross Fit is closed now. She runs her four to six miles each morning and has
begun working out in the downstairs family room. I walk most every day. I spend
my time writing or reading. We make a pilgrimage to Walmart or Giant in search
of necessities. We try to eat lighter and less. I certainly snack less, because
I don’t want to end up looking like a Sumo wrestler.
I
worry about our future- mine in retirement, wondering if perhaps I am retiring
at the wrong time. While we have a time frame for when the school will be “back”
we really don’t know what the future holds.
I
am in the “vulnerable” group because of my age and because of my past history
with asthma. I am the second youngest in my family, meaning that my older
brothers and sisters are more vulnerable than I am. I worry.
I
worry about the life Emily and Q, Hannah and Alex, and Kim and I face. I think
about some of my kids from school- often- and worry about the same thing. You
see, as a principal, I’ve always looked upon the kids as my kids, my staff as
my brothers and sisters. I don’t know if that’s good or bad or right or wrong,
but that’s the way I always approached my work. I worry about them.
But
then I’m inspired.
I
see the Italians singing to each other on balconies while in isolation in the
midst of their family and friends dying. I see the same thing in Spain. I see a
family singing Happy Birthday to their mother/grandmother from outside a window
of her nursing home. I see a priest offering the sacrament of Penance in the
church parking lot in a drive-through format. He sits in a chair, and the parishioner
pulls up in a vehicle.
On
Facebook, I see people trying to bring a laugh to others with a funny meme or
two, trying to distract us from our situation. I see others offering inspiration
and hope.
The
New Normal.
I
can’t say I’ve ever been through something like this before in my lifetime.
Yes, many in the country have. There have been sacrifices before. There have
been tightened belts and diminished wallets before.
We’re
going through it again. We don’t know when the end will be, but I firmly
believe there will be an end and we will survive. I believe there is enough
goodness in us, in those around us to see to it that we will survive. I have
hope. I have faith. I have seen both in and through others. I have seen and
experienced love. I don’t know when our New Normal will return. I don’t know if
it will ever be quite the same as it once was. But I do believe we will make
it- you, me, my family both immediate and extended. We will make it. We will.
Something to think about . . .
Live
Your Life and Make A Difference!
To
My Readers:
My
new book, Betrayed, will debut Nov. 12, 2020! It is a
contemporary psychological thriller using some of the same characters from my
previous work. It takes place on the Navajo Nation Reservation in northeast
Arizona. I will post parts and passages on my author page on Facebook. Here are
two advance reviews from two awesome authors:
Adopted
and bonding as a family, with histories of death, destruction and for
some...abuse, these boys band together—ready to lay down their life for their
new family—in order to find a missing friend before dangerous gunmen find them.
“A
whirlwind of adventure, relationships, protecting family, hair-raising
situations, and cold betrayal.”
—Tina O’Hailey author of When Darkness
Begins
A
boy goes missing in Navajo Nation, a family is killed. Onto the next adventure
for three brothers, including one who grew up there, to search for him. As to
be expected, danger awaits, but these are not ordinary teens. They have faced
harrowing situations before, and now they will rely on the skills and
experience they’ve developed to get through this one.
“Once
again, author Joseph Lewis has written a fast-paced psychological thriller
mystery that immerses readers into a dark world few encounter.”
— Joan Livingston, author of the Isabel
Long Mystery Series
Connect
with me on Social Media:
Twitter at @jrlewisauthor
Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/Joseph.Lewis.Author
Caught
in a Web is now available in Audio format. You can find it
at https://www.beaconaudiobooks.com/audiobookreleases/high-school-drug-rings-gangs-and-revenge-are-all-encompassing-in-caught-in-a-web-by-joseph-lewis
Spiral
Into Darkness:
Named
a Recommended Read in the Author Shout Reader Awards!
He
blends in. He is successful, intelligent and methodical. He has a list and has
murdered eight on it so far. There is no discernible pattern. There are no
clues. There are no leads. The only thing the FBI and local police have to go
on is the method of death: two bullets to the face- gruesome and meant to send
a message. But it’s difficult to understand any message coming from a dark and
damaged mind. Two adopted boys, struggling in their own world, have no idea
they are the next targets. Neither does their family. And neither does local
law enforcement. https://amzn.to/2RBWvTm
Caught
in a Web:
A
PenCraft Literary Award Winner!
The
bodies of high school and middle school kids are found dead from an overdose of
heroin and fentanyl. The drug trade along the I-94 and I-43 corridors and the
Milwaukee Metro area is controlled by MS-13, a violent gang originating from El
Salvador. Ricardo Fuentes is sent from Chicago to Waukesha to find out who is
cutting in on their business, shut it down and teach them a lesson. But he has
an ulterior motive: find and kill a fifteen-year-old boy, George Tokay, who had
killed his cousin the previous summer.
Detectives
Jamie Graff, Pat O’Connor and Paul Eiselmann race to find the source of the
drugs, shut down the ring, and find Fuentes before he kills anyone else,
especially George or members of his family. The three detectives discover the
ring has its roots in a high school among the students and staff. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CKF7696
Book
One of the Lives Trilogy, Stolen Lives:
Two
thirteen-year-old boys are abducted off a safe suburban street. Kelliher and
his team of FBI agents have 24 hours to find them or they’ll end up like all
the others- dead! They have no leads, no clues, and nothing to go on. And the
possibility exists that one of his team members might be involved. http://tinyurl.com/Stolen-Lives-J-Lewis
Book
Two of the Lives Trilogy, Shattered Lives:
Six
men escaped and are out for revenge. The boys, recently freed from captivity,
are in danger and so are their families, but they don’t know it. The FBI has no
clues, no leads, and nothing to go on and because of that, cannot protect them.
http://tinyurl.com/Shattered-Lives-J-Lewis
Book
Three of the Lives Trilogy, Splintered Lives:
A
14-year-old boy knows the end is coming. What he doesn’t know is when, where or
by whom. Without that knowledge, neither he nor the FBI can protect him or his
family.
The
Lives Trilogy Prequel, Taking Lives:
FBI
Agent Pete Kelliher and his partner search for the clues behind the bodies of
six boys left in various and remote parts of the country. Even though they
don’t know one another, the lives of FBI Kelliher, 11-year-old Brett McGovern,
and 11-year-old George Tokay are separate pieces of a puzzle. The two boys
become interwoven with the same thread that Pete Kelliher holds in his hand.
The three of them are on a collision course and when that happens, their lives
are in jeopardy as each search for a way out. http://tinyurl.com/Taking-Lives-J-Lewis
Photo
courtesy of Pablo Heimplatz and Unsplash
