In May, the staff from the Kentucky Office for Refugees met in person. Not on Zoom, but in the same room together! We joked that in March 2020 when we all left the office due to the pandemic, we had assumed that we would be back together by Memorial Day. Memorial Day 2020, not Memorial Day 2021!

But life is finally returning to normal. Masks are finally coming off. We are able to visit with our parents and grandparents, safely without the fear that we might make them ill. Vacations this summer might actually feel like a vacation. And parents are wistfully thinking about the return of traditional school in August. Those of us who have worked primarily from home this past year, are trying to remember what it feels like to wear work clothes and do those clothes still fit?!

It all feels a bit weird, doesn’t it? Glad that life is returning to normal but wondering what the new normal will be in the months to come. Ease yourself back into a work routine, like you do when you get into a pool. Slip into the shallow end, hang on to the side, eventually pushing away until finally, getting your head under water. Hopefully by Labor Day we will have dog paddled to the other end of the pool and be returning to whatever our new normal will be. But until then, enjoy your summer!