We are living our lives on pause, as our governor says, and I have to say, it's not all bad. Normally, we spend so much of our time running from place to place, busy being busy, that it's rather refreshing to have to slow down a bit and take life at a slower pace. I'm in no rush to press “play” again.

Things are getting done around the house. My gardens have never looked better, thanks to all the time that we have to spend on them. We've done more landscaping in the past ten weeks than I have in the past ten, no make that 20, years. My son-in-law Peter, daughter Liz, and granddaughter Adeline have been socially distancing up here with me, away from their Manhattan apartment, for ten weeks, and they and my son Mike are the primary grounds crew. It's looking good.

Yet I think about how our lives have changed and how many different people we haven't seen for so long now.

Family, first of all. Zoom get-togethers are simply not a satisfactory substitute for a big family picnic or wedding or anniversary celebration or graduation.

And just in our family alone, we have at least three or four parties to make up for.

Also, though the thought of actually doing it gives me a shiver, there are days that I dream about how lovely it would be to be able to go to a restaurant for dinner. We have gotten the occasional take-out dinner, but by the time you get it home, wipe it all down, and reheat it, it seems like an awful lot of work.

Just tonight, my son texted me a photo taken in February of the two of us at our favorite ice cream stand. He's having a peanut butter sundae, and I'm getting ready to dig into a hot fudge sundae, complete with whipped cream and a cherry. “I miss the simple things,” he wrote. Yeah, me too.

Today I got my refund for my flight for our planned trip to Miami. We had to cancel, of course. I keep thinking how lucky we have been to have taken so many trips over the years. My family has a million happy memories of our journeys.

We can't go just yet, but I'm hoping that next year will be better.

I hope this doesn't sound like a long list of gripes, because it truly isn't. I think this pandemic has made me realize what a wonderful life I've had and increased my gratitude for so many things I took for granted. I'm so happy my family is close. I'm grateful that we are going through this time together. We are fortunate.

And I'm also tremendously thankful for the wonderful folks all around us who have been on the front lines of this pandemic, putting themselves at risk to protect us all. Their sacrifices are beyond measure, and they are real superheroes.

Someday our lives will be off pause and back in action. I pray that we remember what these days have taught us.