The NYC New Normal

Hello from NYC and the Rutherford Family! 

We are well on our way to a new normal after two years of upheaval. Our theatrical world is still very much affected by Covid-19 as is NYC, which continues to be a city that takes many precautions to protect its people. 

 This year has seen a reopening of Girl from the North Country and a re-reopening. 

Kurtis began the 2021 year working in film/TV (you can catch him on The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, ep 4 I believe), then the fall of 2021 brought Just Like That and learning a few new tracks at Ain't Too Proud and Six. Then, he jumped in to GFTNC and joined our family of players here as the props head. In January 2022 we closed the show, but did return at the end of April for a final hurrah. 

Mom and Dad came out to visit and look after Aurora in rotation while we did yet another tech period for this show and joined the list of Broadway productions being brought to film. No doubt, this filmed version of our show will soon find its media platform and each of you who were not able to attend in person will get the chance to watch the show if you would like to. 

Aurora continues to grow. She has been in a dual language kindergarten program this year and will move on up to 1st grade next year. As she does an after school program, she has made many friends in all grades and often runs through the crowd at drop off in the morning yelling hello to all those along the way. She is also quite the conversationalist and often uses vocabulary well above her age bracket. Her speech therapist has very much enjoyed having her as a student. Unlike our midwestern school schedule, Aurora still has a month of school to go with her last day being June 27th. She loves school, but is also looking forward to summer break and the plans she has for spending time with us and others! 

Our long time nanny and friend, Amy, officially finished out her nursing program this year and receieved a job at a local public hospital in the Bronx so we have enjoyed watching her transition in to that. The pandemic led us into more of a friendship/occasional sitting relationship, so we've had a lot of fun just spending time together and allowing her and Aurora space to continue to grow their friendship. 

I must say that it has been a hard year. I think I've said this multiple times on this platform, but one of the reasons that I recall Kate and I talking about this blog a long time ago was so that everyone could get updates about one another and share some of the good/bad things happening in our worlds. Certainly watching from afar, I recognize that everyone seems to be having a hard time with 2022. We keep holding out hope that somewhere in the next year, something will turn the feelings around, but I've had many conversations with friends about how this is just our new normal and we kind of have to keep moving forward through the slog. There is no going back to the way things were before the pandemic and there is a lot of change that has happened in the past two years. For the first time in my life, I am often left feeling a bit more hopeless than I ever have before and finding a hard time shaking that feeling off, even being triggered by things in ways that I had not been prior to the pandemic. If you have been feeling this way, I guess I just wanted to say that you are not alone. 

We've been practicing the golden rule with Aurora: Treat other people the way you want to be treated. But, sometimes, I have to remember a word, grace and remember that this means that you must alsot treat yourself the way that you really want to be treated, allowing room for everyone to falter and return from the moments that are less than perfect to still feel like we belong and to allow ourselves to feel like we are good inside. 

What a learning experience. A few pcitures attached for a bit of light at the end of a heavier post. Sending you all love and wishes of well being!