Various things here - some small and some not so much.
@BoudiccaBo I totally understand your heartbreak over your DD’s friend. We also lived in the US and my DC all miss their friends but my middle daughter especially. She and her best friend communicate almost daily. We had considered a surprised trip in the summer but hadn’t got as far as sorting it out yet. I was meant to be going over in May though for my friend’s 40th. I haven’t seen my friends in the US (who are my closest friends) in 2 years and this was a huge gift to be able to go and spend time with them - especially after the last few traumatic years we have had as a family. The likelihood is that I now won’t be going.
DH and I also have tickets for an event in London which is likely to be cancelled - something I have wanted to go to since I was a small child.
For DH’s birthday I also bought tickets for Hamilton - as the weekend to London now likely won’t be happening, the theatre trip is likely to be cancelled too and I have no birthday gift for DH.
I have cried about them all. I know that they are small in the grand scheme of things, but they are all long awaited, hoped for, dreamed of and I’m properly gutted.
In addition, all our summer plans are on hold - I couldn’t care less about me, but I do care about what the DC will miss out on. We just moved here last summer after several tumultuous years and my DC are finally beginning to settle here. Their schools closing imminently and summer camps likely cancelled will have a huge impact on them. I so yearn for settledness for them and this will really upset that - particularly consolidating newly formed friendships.
It’s ok to be upset about these things. Yes - people’s health matters more, but these are the things which make us who we are, which enrich our lives, which provide much needed rest and restoration, which are filled with purpose and meaning and hope and joy. It’s ok to be sad about the loss of these things while still acknowledging the big picture