Acacia was a country club with a golf course before it closed and was sold to the Cleveland Metroparks. Now it is a park for everyone with fields and flowers along the trails. Each year it changes as its natural habitat returns along the former golf cart paths.
Life has always been about change, whether or not we noticed it or wanted to acknowledge it, but the pandemic has made us more aware that nothing stays the same. When Acacia was closing, there were those who thought, how could this happen? Isn’t it a shame to lose such a wonderful place? Things will never be the same. That last thought had some truth to it because nothing does stay the same. But is that so bad?
This is not to detract from the pain of anyone’s memories, but things do change, life goes on, and there will be something else new – maybe even better – on the other side. The country club was for a select few and the park is for everyone. The fairways were rolling and relaxing, but so is the new park, only with more untamed fields. More wilderness along those trails.
As we move into 2021, realizing that the pandemic and its impact is not finished, we are saddened when familiar businesses close. Restaurants and local retail owners were often like family and it was hard to see them leave, especially when the owners and employees struggled personally and financially. It was – and is – hard. Nothing and no one can deny that.
But there will be new businesses and new restaurants and new places we cannot even imagine now. We adapted to shopping online and when we are able to venture out again in person, we will adapt to businesses opening where old ones once stood. We will support these new places along with the ones that did not close and marvel at the creativity and resilience of them all.
Fairways to forests:
Honoring the past, supporting the present, and celebrating whatever the future may hold.
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