Those That Just Might Reconnect

I had no idea how to reconnect the speakers or the mic. I stood there in the sun wiping my sweaty brow even though it wasn't very warm outside. They were the same two speakers from two and a half years ago, the ones that a past parent had loaned to the school for our elementary school back-to-school barbecue fundraiser. I picked up one cable, stared blankly at it, set it down, and then picked up another. I remember the last time I had connected them, it was a struggle, but I did it. This time, I completely blanked, and I was near panic-attack overwhelmed. 

Our daughters have gone to this elementary school since preschool. For the past 10 years, my wife Amy and I have dropped off and picked up Beatrice and Bryce to and from school countless times. We've done classroom volunteering, dance assemblies, band, back-to-school barbecues, school auctions, science fairs, an overnight trip, a teacher parade when the pandemic screwed the world up, distance learning, and so much more in between. Amy was also the PTA president at our school for two years, vice-president for two years. Since then, Beatrice has moved onto middle school, and Bryce is now finishing her 5th grade year and will join her sister this fall. 

The last time I emceed the back-to-school barbecue was September of 2019. This time, over two years of pandemic later, I helped coordinate the barbecue with many other great volunteers and emceed again. And this time, unlike last time, I had no idea how to reconnect the speakers or the mic.

We were less than one hour from the long awaited PTA fundraiser barbecue to start. I kept frantically handling the cables hoping they'd magically reconnect for me. Of course, they did not. Finally, the school principal came over and helped me reconnect the speakers. I joked that it was way above my pay grade, and he joked that I was only a supervisor anyway. We tested the mic and iPhone connections and presto! Everything worked! Just in time for me to welcome everyone. 

Our school community has always been very supportive. From the teachers, to the principal, to the staff, to the parents -- we've had some generous friendships over the years, and still have them. But the pandemic was challenging on so many levels, destructive to relationships because we had to stay isolated from each other for so long, and our children suffered academically and socially (except maybe not as much for those who had friend pods like us that we still keep going today). Plus, we can't forget the heartache for those who were seriously ill and died from coronavirus, and still are. 

And it wasn't only challenging to our school community relationships either -- many of our extended friend and family relationships were strained to breaking points, to being broken. The isolation and existential crises we all went through exacerbated our social differences, ideologies, inequities, and irreparable incidents from a pre-covid past. 

We're still in the pandemic's shadow, and now a there's a war halfway around the world, but back to some normalcy we go. There we were, hundreds of kids and parents having fun at a school barbecue fundraiser that hadn't happened for two and a half years. I emceed and played DJ and everyone laughed and played and reconnected with each other while eating yummy hamburgers and hot dogs. 

Afterward, as I unplugged the mic and speakers to pack them away, I thought about how at first I couldn't figure it all out, how overwhelming it all was. Disconnections aren't always fixable, but with a little help, there are those that just might reconnect.