This is the first time I’ve ever been working on the calendar section of a magazine while at the same time wondering if any of the events I’m typing in will actually come to pass.
The nature of the magazine business is that we work in advance — we send the magazine out to be printed weeks before it’s released — so every time I write my editor’s note I’m writing to people in the future. That’s never struck me as strange as it does now.
Right now, it’s a beautiful mid-March day — 80 degrees, not a cloud in the sky — which is totally surreal because it feels like the sky is falling. We’re just a few days in to this pandemic and emails are flooding in about canceled events, my daughter’s school just got closed for two days because of a possible exposure so now I too have found myself stuck at home, surrounded by more anti- bacterial products than I’ve owned in my life.
But while I wrestle with childcare issues and agonize over canceling upcoming trips, I think of the two families I talked to for this cover issue. I think of what it would be like to have a child whose immune system is so compromised from fighting a deadly disease that they can’t even go to a parade or have a pet. I think of the helplessness, the fear, that those parents, those kids, must be feeling in a time like this and I’m instantly humbled, and so grateful that there are people out there every day providing them with support in every way they can.
There’s a quote I love by artist and writer Mary Anne Radmacher who said, “As we work to create light for others, we naturally light our own way.” In this, our annual Giving Back issue, I want to thank everyone who chooses to spend any amount of their time trying to make this world a little better, a little less dark and scary, for anyone in any way. Really, what more productive way is there to spend your time?
Thank you for reading,
Kimberley Singletary, Managing Editor
