If I were to have done a Christmas Letter this year, perhaps it would have been something like this…
Nine months ago the world as we knew it stopped. Nine months ago all the big, bad, scary, unknowns were just starting to become, well … known. Everyone was sent home and told to just stay there. Some did, some did not. Some could, some could not. There was essential workers, and non-essential workers, online learning and working from home. There were masks, and fear, and an unbelievable amount of media coverage.
I posted a few things along the way, but mostly kept myself quiet. Basically, full on survival mode. You can pop back to the homepage and catch up if you’ve missed them.
I personally spent most of the last nine months a hot mess. I struggled and wrestled through so many inner demons, so many obstacles and unknowns, so much really hard stuff (at least I sure thought it was hard, I don’t care what everyone else thinks). I know the entire world basically went through the same thing. Some people were very vocal, some people weren’t. Some people continued to be very social as well, some people weren’t. I chose the covid camp side of trying to remain silent while trying to remain safe and quarantined in my house. My choices, my thoughts, my beliefs (and I tried to just keep them to myself and not judge or push them onto anyone else). Most of what I chose to believe did not align with most around me, which added more stress and tension inside and all around me.
Since day one I chose to still get up at the same time I always did. To work out, get ready, and get fully work-ready dressed (with earring, accessories, shoes and the whole shebang). I am still continuing this to this day. Although, I am grateful to also still be allowed to work from home at this current time.
In May, Minnesota borders opened, and the campground opened, and I went from a three month isolation at my house, to the most bizarre case of entering a time zone at the campground as if nothing had happened, or was happening in the world around us. No social distancing, no masks… and I admit, it made for a really hard summer for me this summer. But, we did leave the state and went to the campground nearly every weekend this summer.
Baseball in Iowa started up about the same time, and after three months of isolation for the boy, we sent him off to baseball practice, and dugouts, and the spitting of illegal sunflower seeds (again, as if nothing had happened or was happening in the world around us). Again, this was also hard for me.
I continued my miles and my training, even though ever single race I was signed up for got canceled. Some went virtual, some just canceled. I basically stopped doing any miles outside, except on the weekends at the campground (I honestly just stopped feeling safe outside). So my treadmill, elliptical, and bike are getting all the love right now (and I do mean ALL the love, as I’m training for a full marathon race next week). #runlikethewindbullseye. All my training has brought me through finally agreeing to watch all the Star Wars, Mandalorian, and Marvel movies my son had been asking me to watch for years now. (and who knew – I loved them all!) #allthebabyyoda This summer I signed up for several virtual Spartan race opportunities that I was not expecting to try, and ended up meeting and exceeding my 2021 intentionally logged miles goal for the year. My mileage and training ended strong… my weight however did not end where I was wanting it to be (nope, no grand covid transformation before and after posting over here for me. I lived… that’s all I can boast about.) Pandemics and isolation at home make a tough go for those who tend to emotionally eat.
Right as the pandemic was ramping up… my oldest son got back together with the beautiful girl he had never stopped loving… and it was so fun to see them bloom together again. She graduated from college, passed her RN test, and got her first full time job. AND this fall there was much excitement as he asked “Will you…” and she said “I will…” Then they bought an acreage together and have been busy starting to remodel it all for his salvage business and for their house together. So, I am officially the mother-of-the-groom and so in love with my future daughter-in-law. I’ve been able to be a part of pretty much everything and it’s been just so fun! We are eagerly looking forward to June 4, 2021. #toinfinityandbeyond
Brian and Isaiah spent months working on their passports… only to have their big trip to Canada canceled. They currently have a 2021 rescheduled trip date set, and we can only cross our fingers and pray it will come to be.
Also at the beginning of the pandemic, Brian decided he needed to change a few things with his carpentry business, and as I sat at home on furlough, he took the big scary steps to go out on his own - and is now sole owner of Crane Custom Carpentry. Scary steps to take in a scary time. He has been working nearly exclusively with Century Cabinetry and has been loving it. Our fingers also remain crossed with hope and anticipation for him as we enter 2021.
Isaiah, as with the rest of the kiddos, struggled learning from home, but we hung on strong and kept going. He built cardboard Titanics, and puzzles, and endless hours of rubix cubes. We read and watched movies and just stayed close. He also felt the crazy shift of life between home and the campground, but loved to be able to just run free with friends and just be outside and all over each weekend.
We decided at very last minute to actually go on a little vacation to the Wisconsin Dells in July. We got a great deal on accommodations, and the only park we went to was at 10% capacity. So, we rode a whole lotta go carts and roller coasters, floated down some water slides and wave pools… and literally absorbed gallons of hand sanitizer. It was definitely a once and done vacation spot for us, but we had fun (and none of us got covid.)
In the fall I transitioned out of furlough (yup, I’m still an art admin in the art dept at Staples Promotional Products) and Isaiah went back to school full time with all in-person learning… and somehow we are still there, despite all the crazy covid going on. There’s been some social distanced band concerts and wrestling tournaments with Isaiah… crazy crazy stuff. Some kids and parents follow the rules and requests being asked, some not… #thingsthatmakeyougohmmm
This fall I also made the decision to brave a trip with my parents to the Black Hills, to meet up with my brother who flew in from South Carolina (where he moved this summer) so we could fulfill the promise we made our dad a few years earlier as we stood on the top of Harney Peak together. We made a promise that for his 70th Birthday we would celebrate and make that same trek together again. The trip was changed and canceled multiple times due to covid and my brother and family moving… but at the last minute we decided to just make it happen and the original #oldenkamppartyoffour enjoyed an insane activity (and hand sanitizer) filled weekend together at the Black Hills, including a hike back to the top and back of Harney Peak.
In January we lost our dear Lily Lou and Isaiah has struggled all year with this loss. He still sleeps with her dog collar… but it’s been a hard year for him as well as the rest of us, and while he desperately wants another dog, we just haven’t been able to afford it. Perhaps some day God will grant us that wish of having two dogs again, but for now Miss Piper Joy remains spoiled rotten and attached (literally) at the hip to me. The covid isolation served her well as she was home with me 24/7 for the last nine months. I think of all of us, she benefited the most from this and will probably be the most devastated if we ever go back to a time when I’m not working from home full time anymore. Wink.
Brian entered his birthday and the holidays very sick and down for nearly a month as he dealt with gallbladder issues and eventually recovery from surgery.
So in a nutshell… we’re all still alive (well, minus Lily) and healthy here. None of us have had covid yet, and Lord willing we will continue to be able to stay healthy. It’s been a rocky, bumpy, rollercoaster of a ride (figuratively and literally lol) for all of us… but we are still here and still moving forward as best as each of us can right now.
2020 gave us lots of memories and lots of things to both mourn, and fear, and be grateful for. We have now turned the page to 2021. I know it will not magically change anything by just changing the zero to a one at the end of the year when a magically clock struck midnight, but it does mean time has continued to tick, and it’s time to just continue forward, holding tight the hands of hope and grace.
No comments:
Post a Comment