"Reflections On Married Life..."

Our Home - Christmas Day 2020

Another festive season, albeit a very different one, has now come to a close and as we together with the rest of the nation settle in for what may be the long winter of our discontent, I find myself reflecting on the year that has now passed away into history.

Click to enlarge images

Our Christmas Table

Dad and Dustin making the Christmas Cookies

I do look back on the year that will be remembered as "The Year of the Great Pandemic" with a great deal of thankfulness... My family and I are all alive and well, despite all the death and illness that has beset the world.  My now 19 year old son, D'Mitris contracted COVID in the early days of March, and was gravely ill, and I was terribly afraid for him. We didn't take him to the overflowing hospitals, but instead nursed him in isolation here at home.  He spent more than 5 weeks alone in his sick room except for me cautiously attending to him. I was never so thankful that we have a large home so that we could safely quarantine him.

D'Mitris pouring the wine at Thanksgiving

Financially, we are far better off than many. With millions still unemployed, I have a job that I enjoy although I was furloughed for months during the summer. Knowing of neighbors and friends who are struggling to make ends meet, my husband and children now understand why I've always talked about money and the importance of saving for a rainy day. Thankfully, our life at home in a material sense is little changed and we're still able to enjoy the abundance of my lifetime of hard work. So all in all, we are all okay.

Dustin's first day of high school

Schooling for our children has radically changed. My little one, Dustin is now 15 and started high school in September all from home.  Our study is now his classroom and with a new laptop and some help from Dad, he managed to make the honor roll after a rough start with distance learning.  D'Mitris and his girl friend both graduated from high school in June, with an online ceremony and he has now started college, (also by distance learning). 

My husband Ed

My husband, Ed is well, but has been the greatest source of my worries during the pandemic as he has several underlying medical conditions that place him at high risk for a poor outcome should he contract COVID. He's also a little hard-headed and likes to make unnecessary trips out of the house. That combined with the fact that my work puts me (and my family) in harm's way (at work each day, I come into contact with thousands of people in sometimes crowded circumstances), has made me afraid that I might bring home a deadly infection, so at home, we've been practicing social-distancing.  In March, I moved into the guest room, and Ed and I keep our distance from each other at all times.  Our family meal times are different too as we now dine in separate rooms, with two of us opposite ends of the kitchen table and the two of us at opposite ends of the dining room table.

What 2021 has in store for us, I can't say, but I am hopeful for a return to some semblance of normalcy by the time the holidays return. As a "frontline" worker, I assume I'll be in the next phase of people to be offered a vaccine and I do plan to take one. My husband should also be in that group so that hopefully we can diminish our precautions at home once we've both been vaccinated.

Finally, the other news from our home is that we've got a new little mouth to feed... No, we haven't adopted a baby, but we do have a new kitten.  He came into our home just before Christmas and has already made himself a part of our little family. Meet "Milo."