The show must go on

Written March 3, 2023

Day 10 of 40 in a 45-day period: The tenth day of Lent has always been a milestone, getting out of the single digits with only 30 (really 35) days to go. That feels less daunting than the original 40 (really 45) given there’s about a month left. We know how quickly February goes by so March is sure to follow suit.

Except that March does not follow suit. March is one of those months that holds so much promise. Spring is around the corner; St. Patrick’s Day is coming, March Madness begins shortly, baseball season is warming up. March is also a month that seems to dig in its heels. Despite being considered a spring month it is a winter stronghold and the first day of spring is a mere technicality.

March reminds us of when everything came to a screeching halt in the U.S. in 2020. It was as if we had been at a Broadway show and suddenly we were the only ones in the theater with a spotlight shining down, blinding us. Without an audience to share our collective experience, we were forced to face the question of how and will the show go on.

Somehow it did although it wasn’t always pretty. Inwardly we struggled to learn new roles, wondering where the script and the stage directions were so we could perform well. Outwardly we showed up day after day, becoming improv actors even though there wasn’t anyone there to share the laughs. We juggled school on Zoom, toddlers who decided napping was unnecessary, playgrounds roped off with caution tape and trying to explain a tent hospital in Central Park.

We cried alone in our bathrooms and found camaraderie online with friends and family who were so far away but felt all the same feelings. We created makeshift slides on the smooth parts next to concrete steps. We waited in hours-long lines to go to the grocery store. We kept hearing about friends and neighbors getting sick, and not everyone recovered. We told ourselves I cannot do this another day and yet we did.

Our performances now look similar to the pre-2020 ones but so much has changed. We aren’t who we were before. The spotlight was relentless and we can no longer afford to look away. But we still show up. The show must go on.

generously shared with me by Danny Burstein