We’ll Get Through This?

We’ll get through this.

I’ve said that many times recently, cautiously I must add. I feel the need to explain what these words mean to me.

In the midst of lawsuits and bankruptcy, The Admiral gave me these words and I recall them very clearly.  He said, “We’re gonna get through this. Trust me. I’ve done over 1500 of these in my career. They all made it. And we’re gonna have a beer together sometime down the road and be able to laugh about it.”

He was right.  We had that beer. And we laughed.

But it wasn’t without grief, because I was entering into a territory for which I had no map, no coordinates, no GPS.  It was terra incognita. Uncharted territory. 

Such are the days we are living in.  Unprecedented in my lifetime. Life as I’ve known it is gone and the signs of it returning to any sense of normalcy are vague at best. Are The Admiral’s words still true?

Will we get through this?

Here’s my perspective from the place on the wall where I stand and watch.

What The Admiral didn’t mean was life will go back to looking like it did as before.  I lost my business. I lost everything I had worked for. I lost my dream. And since then, I lost my wife. I’ve lost friends. None of these are coming back in the same way I experienced them in the past. Life will not return to this kind of normal that I once knew.

My heart is tender toward my colleagues who are in the restaurant business. I would be in the same boat if I hadn’t lost mine.  I would be dealing with the same pain of letting employees go, and watching an entire industry collapse with no recourse. Some have been able to pivot and retool their operation.  But it’s not the same as before.

Here’s what The Admiral’s words meant to me:

Yes, we’ll get through this. Repeat. We.  You’re not alone. I’m with you.

No, Life won’t look the same as before. But that’s OK. Life changes regardless.

Yes, you can survive, because Hope is here to ensure that.

No, you can’t get her back.

Yes, you can grieve, and you must.

No, you couldn’t have done anything to prevent it.

Yes, you will get through this.

No, you don’t want to live backward.

Yes, keep moving forward. That’s where Hope lives. 

No, She doesn’t call you to stay in your past.

Yes, I believe in you.

I hope you have an Admiral in your life. I am forever grateful and indebted to his friendship.