Dear George,

There are so many parts of this pandemic that are hard to wrap our heads around but the one that troubles me the most is the toll it has taken on small businesses. I cant help but believe that until a person has owned a business of their own, one can never really understand the emotional and financial impact of this situation we are in. How a few months of a global event can feel like the undoing of a lifetime of hard work, dedication, and planning. How hard it is to navigate the impact on the people who have worked alongside you and the people who come to you, a helplessness to turn around what you cannot change.

But here is the other side and the one I hope you never fail to see. All these years you have been teaching these students about perseverance, character, and flexibility. These skills are preached in class, preached in forms, tested in matches, measure in belts. The traits that you have rightfully expected of your students are exactly the same ones you have personally shown through this pandemic.

More than anyone we know you have looked at ways to keep people engaged and in doing so you remind us to keep looking forward. By not giving up, you demonstrate to those around you what it looks like when martial arts becomes integrated into a persons sense of self. There are many things you have taught our child Eli over the years but please remember, that the unspoken lessons of the last few months may be the ones that count the most.

Caeley Melmed - Eli’s mom