August 14, 2021, around 10a.m. goes down as one very special day for me. It was a Saturday, sunny yet not hot. I was surrounded by my kids, Alex, my sister, my nephews, my best friend and my future husband.
That was the day we married.
He was already mine, I was already his, we just made it official
I didn't want a big wedding, I just wanted those people there, I'm so glad, so very happy that that is what I received.
Last week we had our first vacation in over a year! We took the week of spring break off and booked a couple of nights at Kalhari indoor water park. Years earlier I had gone here with the boys, they were little and we tagged along with Crystal and Matt and their kids when Josh was in Iraq. I remember how much fun it was, it proved not to disappoint this time either.
We got there and had booked a 2 room suite. With 3 kids and a blended family, I wanted to make sure everyone had there space. And they did. We checked out the arcade, got them all set up with their own arcade cards, walked around and Bob and I went to the water park and the hot tub. It is an indoor/outdoor hot tub and it was cold that first night, it was so wonderful seating in that warm water watching the stars.
Came back to the room, the boys had hooked up electronics to their tv, of course. But we ended up playing a couple of rounds of cards (Bum) and called it a night.
The next day, we hit the buffet and the water park. And although the boys spent a whole lot less time than I assumed they would, I know they enjoyed the water, especially the lazy river. The life guards probably didn't enjoy them, but they did.
Later that day, we ate a great dinner at the Italian restaurant there and then hit the arcade. We had done the escape room too earlier that day. But we had bowling, miniature golf and countless other things to chose from.
The year 2020 was just... weird. I remember first hearing about this unknown virus with the name of a beer and thinking to myself, "that's pretty interesting, glad it's not here, I'm sure it'll pass in no time." Then cases came to the Europe, concerning for sure. Then cases came to the US... and well you had my attention.
Next thing you know, there was cases in Ohio and the numbers kept growing and growing, the whole world shut down. Well mostly, many of us had to go to work each day, the "essential workers". But the kids didn't they stayed home and everything went online. Masks became mandatory, people would walk on the other side of the road if you went for a walk. Cough around anyone and you were seen as if you had the plague.
Slowly life began to have some semblance of normality, or rather a new sense of normal. No graduation for Clayton, but a drive thru type graduation. No vacation, but we had stock pile of toilet paper because there was a shortage everywhere you went.
Work was hard, stressful. Now required to wear a mask, shield or goggles, gloves and gown at visits. Being swabbed weekly if not more so for rapid tests to get into nursing homes for Covid. Not being able to hug my patients and there family members when all they needed was a hug. Having nurses jobs be reallocated or laid off which increased the work for everyone else.
The kids started school online in August 2020. Slowly they came out with a vaccine and slowly numbers are going down. Kids are back in school now. There's news of a variant strand, there's news of the vaccine not remaining effective for long amounts of time. There's news numbers are going back up, for whatever reason, maybe because people are tired of social distancing and masking. They are tired of the constant demands placed on them. Either way, I don't think many will be able to not remember 2020, and to not be glad to see the end of it and the new year 2021.
