2020. You’ve seen the memes. Definitely a year for the history books. It hasn’t been an easy 6 months for anyone.
In January, we lost one of the sweetest souls I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. Mason’s grandmother, Alice, was an angel on earth if I have ever met one. She was a kindergarten teacher for over 30 years and had the kindest, most sincere way of connecting with anyone she met. She really never met a stranger in her life. She loved butter in any form, always tried to feed anyone who walked through her door no matter what time they arrived, and cherished her family above all else. I miss her dearly and would love nothing more than to hear her voice right now. Sharing my diagnosis with our families last year was one of the hardest parts of all this, but she handled it with grace and composure, even as her health was failing her. I hope she realized how much love and laughter she brought to our family.
I pushed things a bit too hard in January – I was feeling pretty good in my recovery and got back to my normal routine too quickly and suffered a lot of physical pain as a result. It was a tough, but serious reminder that I was not in charge. Because of this, I really wasn’t allowed to help with our move in February. Mason took the lead on everything and did a great job, and I spent the majority of the time feeling anxious and guilty I couldn’t help (though it was nice to have an excuse not to lift boxes). We love our new house! It’s been a few months and we are still unpacking and organizing, but it’s a great fit for us and I’m really glad we moved before everything shut down.
At the end of February, we lost a beloved uncle – my uncle Bob. He was a veteran, the oldest of five children, a father, grandfather, uncle, great uncle, and friend. He and my Mom were very close even though they were 15 years apart. He helped me move twice when I was in grad school (both times in a sweltering and humid August in Virginia) and vowed never to help me again 🙂 He died of cancer. I hate cancer.
In March, the world shut down and we are still trying to figure out what that means for our family. In May, the world seemed to wake up. We have been focused learning about and discussing social and racial justice issues in our family. We have been doing a lot of reading, evaluating, researching, and soul-searching.
Life One Step At A Time 