May you live in interesting times. It’s a saying that was meant to be ironic or a curse. For you see, to live in uninteresting times, while boring, they are usually times of peace and tranquility. Unlike interesting times, which are usually times of trouble and angst.

I get it now. While I, for one, can say I’ve had enough of interesting times, I can also say, let’s not lose our focus because of these times. Our mission here, as patriots, as parents, as humans, is to do the best we can, to be kind and love each other, enjoy ourselves, gather knowledge, and hopefully leave the world a better place for those who come after us.

Here in Bristol, we’ve set a high bar to live up to. We have great traditions, we care about our town and its establishments, we care about each other. I’ve seen it, I’ve seen people help others in need, with passion and fervor, expecting no recompense.

These days have been challenging, to say the least. It’s easy to lose faith, to lose hope, to lose sight of what we were and what we can be again. I’ve listened to the news, sometimes intently and earnestly and other times, disgustedly.

Some people think this whole Coronavirus is a sham, others think it’s the apocalypse. Some people are placing blame based on political siding, others are pointing fingers at people who are out and about or people who want to stay quarantined. These are divisive times.

I am not buying into the notion that we will never be the same again. There were things that happened long before my time, things I can’t even comprehend the ramifications of. Things like slavery, the Holocaust, women’s suffrage.

The stock market crashed in 1929 and it lead to the Great Depression. They said America would never recover. It did, then it crashed again ... and again, and we came back again. Each time stronger than the last.

We all sat helpless and hopeless as the towers fell on 9/11. While our hearts were broken, they said things would never be the same again. We would never fly as eagerly as we once did, if at all. Precautions were taken and the friendly skies eventually were as busy as ever before.

My point is, America and her people are down, but we’ve been down before. Our dreams and hopes have been steamrolled, erased and stomped on, but we have always found a way to come back. So please don’t lose hope.

We’ve done it before. We will all need each other. We will need each other’s business; shop and eat locally, please. We will need each other’s company; check in on friends and neighbors. We will need each other’s comfort.

Some of us will lose dearly in this mess. We will need to have patience and hope and I promise you, we will come back. People will come back to Bristol ... for our concerts, for our food, for our parade, for our patriotism, for a place to start a life or to settle down. We will have to take small steps to get there, but we will be ok.

Sooner or later we’ll shake on it. Eventually we will embrace and find out that our life during this interesting time was well earned, and when we finally do leave this world, we will have left a damn good impression. Let’s take care of each other. We’re all we’ve got.

Kevin Centazzo
Bristol