There is just so much baking, cooking, cleaning, organizing, reading and writing that one can do. Those who remember the musical Flower Drum Song might recall the lyrics “Sunday, sweet Sunday with nothing to do. Lazy and lovely, my one day with you.” We used to go around the house singing together, so excited to have lone moments together without any disturbances or interruptions. Obviously it took many years for that to happen, until our beloved children had flown the coop.

Here we are, the “stars” of the OU Marriage Enrichment Retreats. We spent many weekends throughout the U.S. lecturing on marriage and the challenges and beauty that are intertwined in it. Truthfully that was way before corona. We are still bonded forever in happiness and devotion but honestly we are sick and tired of having nowhere to go, wondering when the next time will be that we can have company for meals on Shabbat or chagim and having to worry every time we go someplace if we are making a mistake by unintentionally exposing ourselves to “unknowns.”

Neither of us are enjoying this new phase of our life. It has to be especially upsetting when you are not at the beginning stages of life but towards the latter stages. This morning Nina picked up the paper to read that a new surge of the virus will probably be upon us in October and will continue through April 2021. If that is the case it looks as though there will be many Sundays and Mondays and Tuesdays and Wednesdays etc. with little structure or opportunity to go anywhere. Such a pleasant thought (not). And then we hear the reactions of others who tell us that it is ok to have little white lies when telling border agents their intention of going into quarantine when they actually have no intention to do so. It is ok for shidduch dates to go on despite corona; it is okay because in specific cities there is no corona and everything is pretty much back to normal.

We guess that we are listening to different radio stations, watching different newscasts and reading different newspapers, and every once in a while we think that it becomes “normal” to begin to doubt oneself. Maybe “they” are right and we are overreacting. An out-of-doors wedding that friends attended recently in New Jersey that reduced their guest list to only 400 looked to most as though those in attendance had never heard the term social distancing. Maybe they are the smart ones living one day at a time as best they can. The truth is that none of us knows what will be tomorrow. Doctors conflict with each other, scientists conflict with each other, government officials can’t seem to be on the same page ever. It looks as if we will be spending many lonely days with few places to go or things to do, and we continue to wish that one day this awful monster will be gone and we will be still here to enjoy life once again.

Rabbi Mordechai and Nina Glick are living in Bergenfield after many years of service to the Montreal Jewish community. Rabbi Glick was the rav of Congregation Ahavat Yisroel as well as a practicing clinical psychologist in private practice. He also taught at Champlain Regional College. The Glicks were frequent speakers at the OU marriage retreats. Nina coordinated all Yachad activities in Montreal and was a co/founder of Maison Shalom, a group home for young adults with special needs. They can be reached at [email protected].