Bowling balls.

Ok, so imagine that it’s a bright sunny day and you accidentally let go of a few helium balloons and they fly off into the sky. Like a child you feel an immediate anger for letting them go, and sadness that they are gone, followed by despair as you watch those balloons drift off slowly into the light blue abyss. They get smaller and smaller as they float with the wind until you can’t even see them anymore.

Now imagine that everyone in the world let go of a balloon or two at about the same time. So much anger and despair. And these beautiful, albeit sad balloons drift into the sky and ultimately out of view.

Now. Imagine that all of these lost balloons suddenly turned into bowling balls. In the sky. And gravity took over.

Welcome to COVID_19.

Did I mention that it’s cloudy and there’s a thick fog amongst us now? We have no chance of seeing the “bowling balls falling from the sky”. All we can do is stay indoors and hope for the best. We FaceTime, and Zoom, and Skype our loved ones because we miss them terribly, but leaving the house isn’t worth the risk.

We, as a culture, had no clue that this was coming. If we had, there would be more toilet paper, chicken, and vodka readily available. Why we might need toilet paper in order to shield ourselves from bowling balls falling from the sky, I have yet to figure out. But that being said, here we are. We don’t even really know what we need, do we?

I’ll tell you what we need. We need love, and time. And vodka, and patience. Mostly those last two for me specifically. Eventually the fog will clear, and the bowing balls with all have fallen. We will emerge from our homes slowly and nervously to find the aftermath in the abandoned streets. Holes from where the bowling balls smashed into the concrete. Holes in our bank accounts, cancelled vacations, IRA’s and educations. Holes in our hearts from those we lost in battle. Some of these holes will be easier to heal than others. We will vacation again, and learn again, and build up our savings accounts again. But we might not see all of our loved ones again if we don’t stay home until the storm passes.

Be smart. Be kind, because it might be hard to imagine a bowling ball falling from the sky until it happens to you, or someone you know. Love and time will get us through until the skies clear and the clouds give way to brilliant blue skies and irresistible sunshine again. But until then, don’t forget the vodka.