A fresh start

Here’s a small snapshot of headlines from the past week:

–Thousands gathered for the 2020 March on Washington, 57 years after Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have A Dream” speech on the steps of the Lincoln Monument, calling for racial justice and police reform.  

–Hurricane Laura pounded Louisiana killing more than 15 people and causing more than $25 billion in damage. 

–The number of Coronavirus cases in the U.S. passed more than 5.8 million with more than 182,000 deaths. 

–Chadwick Boseman, the beloved actor known for his role as King T’Challa in Marvel’s “Black Panther” and as Jackie Robinson in “42” died at the age of 43, after a four-year battle with colon cancer.

There’s no question that it’s been a challenging year, crazy enough that you want to jump right back in bed and throw the covers over your head. With the turn of the calendar, however, my son starts a new school year. When I was a kid, school meant the start of something new, a fresh start.

Oh, I never wanted summer to end, I wanted it to last forever, but once the first school bell rang, it was still fun to get dressed up in my new school clothes and see all my friends. 

My son’s school district has opted to take a hybrid approach with face-to-face instruction and some online learning. The hope is that the number of COVID cases remain low and kids can get the learning instruction they desperately need. 

I’m not sure what to think about the rest of the year. What more could come our way? Murder hornets or flying sharks, perhaps? I’m not sure, but I’m opting to view it like the school year . . . as a fresh, new start.