My mom and I have spent several sunset happy hours at her place over the last month—just sitting, sipping, and talking about when we think Disney World might re-open. We had a trip scheduled for the last week of April. These evenings have become so precious to me. We are going to drive to Aiken on Saturday—just for a scenic country ride on a sunny day.
My aunt and uncle welcomed a new baby into the world. My grandfather passed after a long, wonderful life of 92 years, 70 of which were spent with my grandmother, who is still with us. The cycle of life continues, virus be damned.
I’ve spent the last month connecting with clients who are usually too busy to chat beyond the usual “Hi! So busy! Me too! Bye!” We’ve shared our thoughts on the pandemic and what we think the future might look like, guessed at re-opening dates for our state, and taken solace in the fact that everyone else in the world is feeling exactly the same way.
This issue has almost none of the content we originally planned. It all seemed so pointless and irrelevant sitting there on that editorial calendar we came up with a year ago. You know what though? I think what’s in this issue is better than what it would have been. As much as I struggled with primarily dedicating an issue to COVID-19, this magazine has always been a little time capsule of what is currently happening—locally and nationally. I looked back at old issues with articles on the swine flu, Myspace, and explaining Obamacare and thought that this once-in-a-lifetime moment needed to be recorded.
Remember the time the government of the United States paid American people billions of dollars just to stay home? Remember that time when you could only get take-out from restaurants, and bars were closed? Remember the time school was canceled for months and you couldn’t go to the beach or for a walk in the park? Remember the time when toilet paper was more valuable than oil? Remember the time so many Lowcountry residents stepped up to care for their neighbors and friends by helping in any way they could?
I hope we all remember this time and somehow are forever changed by it. For the better.
