By Anthony Welch

I’m not good at sitting still. I thrive on always having something to look forward to.

Being a musician that includes keeping a consistent schedule of band rehearsals and shows.

That’s all changed because of COVID-19. Instantly, all of those planned events are no more. Speaking of shows, it also means our planned Life After 50 fun senior expo, Fifty Fest, is postponed. We hope to host the event this summer. Stay tuned!

The bright side of all this is my family is getting a ton of more time together. We’re working on organizing things around the house, taking walks around the neighborhood, my son figured out how to ride a bike, we’re all working on different projects and reading more.

I’m grateful for this extra family time. That, combined with not watching the news and ignoring Facebook more, makes things seem normal. It’s nice to be outside and seeing neighbors with their kids (from a distance of course) and walking their dogs, waving to one another.

I’ve always been a worrier … sometimes to the extreme. So I’ve had to shut off those inner thoughts about all of this. I think it’s important to stay calm and interact with your family in whatever way possible. Make more phone calls, use video chat apps to see your loved ones and call those friends you haven’t spoken with in a while.

We all need distractions during this time. Keep busy in anyway you can. Once it’s all over, we’ll all have a new appreciation for one another.