As we work to return to lives, focus on relationships

When I see familiar faces at our local Safeway store or meet others down at the Snohomish River levee while walking our dog, instead of saying “How are you?” nowadays I almost blurt out the question: “How is your unwarranted state of well-being?” Not simply just how inflation, deteriorating public safety, the constant push to draw us all apart impact your personal life, but also wonder if you feel that we lost something essential in the last two years?

Do you recognize that even after we get rid of our masks, it will be difficult to get rid of all the fears and distrust that seeped into all aspects of our lives? Do you now think that the slogan “we are all in this together” turned out to be a lie, because we were all alone trying to cope and make sense of insanity and chaos?

I wish I could advocate effectively enough, that Build Back Better would somehow start with our own relationships to our own friends and family. The Great Reset should be about finding civility and moral framework again. True relief for unknown and unspoken damages of our lives and for our children cannot come soon enough. Let us power down the hysteria that took control of us unnoticed. We are in this together, and in whatever might be ahead, but only after finding common ground to stand on.

Peter Ferenczy

Everett

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