Nary a word in over two years...woah. It would be impossible to recap the time since my last post with any detail. Perhaps the easiest is to include the Christmas card from each year, since we write an annual wrap-up on those.
2019:
2020:
What we didn't include on the cards:
We lost David's Pawpaw (maternal grandfather) in March of 2020 and his Grandmother (paternal grandmother) in May of 2020. And, sadly, those two heartbreaks weren't even close to being the only ones we faced that year and the next.
The Covid-19 worldwide pandemic began in March 2020 and, as I write this in January of 2022, is still going on. The struggles and experiences we've endured surrounding that could alone fill a book. We lived through digital school, nearly homeschooled, then sent them in face masks for all of one school year and most of another. We missed out on a lot, including Audrey's end of elementary school and all of the fanfare it was going to hold. (But we recognize and are thankful that it was not her high school chapter closing!) There were cancelled plans and quarantines and many, many modifications, take-out meals, and adaptations before the vaccines rolled out in spring of 2021 for adults, summer of 2021 for older kids, and fall of 2021 for 5-11 year olds. We are all four fully vaccinated, which became a surprisingly political and divisive decision in our country and in our extended families. We did our research and ultimately concluded it was the right thing to do for us, but understand and respect that others felt differently for themselves. What I can't abide is the conspiracy theorists and/or the idea that one cannot believe in both God and science simultaneously. While life is about 75% back to normal, we desperately hope to see the virus turn "endemic" this year and allow everything to fully resume. Though I fear the division and damage it caused will leave scars on our country for quite some time.
Adding to the list of losses, David's Grandma (maternal grandmother) suffered a massive stroke in September 2021. After lengthy hospital then rehab facility stays, she is now back at her home with her three adult children and their spouses rotate shifts caring for her full time. She cannot walk or use the bathroom on her own and is showing early signs of dementia. It is as impossible as it sounds.
Of course it hasn't all been doom and gloom for the past few years. There have been many, MANY amazing blessings and adventures. But between the lack of time and the kids being at ages where they don't enjoy me sharing their lives online, I've failed to capture those here. One of my goals this year is to go back and pull out social media posts from the last few years that highlight some important milestones and memories. Maybe even some occasional opinion pieces I wrote about the state of things, because what is social media without opinion pieces?
And then I've decided that it's going to be time to close up shop on this corner of the internet. It's been a wonderful, albeit incredibly inconsistent, run. Perhaps one day I'll have more time and perspective to look back, reflect, and log, but I imagine by the time my kids grant me the permission, I'll be a very busy grandmother. And/or traveling the world with my newly retired husband. At least I sure do hope so.
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