“Look back to learn how to look forward.” – Joe Girard
As everyone knows, this has been an extraordinary year. A year of reflection and reassessment. It has brought tremendous disappointment, especially for Girlchild1 who was so looking forward to her final rowing season as a senior that was totally cancelled, to her last quarters online, culminating with a virtual graduation. What an achievement! In all the disappointment, this is still pretty amazing. Four years of getting up before the sun, to be on the water at first light, and to still manage the scholarship. We are so proud, and the distance has made it all so hard. Our whole lives we are taught to manage expectations, it is hard when life is so disappointing. It is also hard not to be depressed and feel guilty for being depressed when you know that so many people have it so much worse. So, we stayed home and did all we could to stay connected. We started a weekly zoom call with everyone, including the Aged-Ps from down south when we could accommodate all the time zones. It has been something fun to look forward to every week. We celebrated birthdays and milestones from afar, making a mental note to really celebrate these in real life from now on. We have all reassessed where we are, and where we want to be. Girlchild1 is now in the working world getting much needed experience in the field, aiming for grad school. Girlchild2 is thriving at college, and has a good student manager job on campus. We are very pleased she has fully recovered from flying off her skateboard, hitting her head, and knocking herself out in the summer! Expert2 is getting a little cabin fever, having worked from home since March with no travel. I enrolled in grad school online and can’t wait for where it will take me. We all got together for a quick catchup in October in sunny California, absorbing as much vitamin D as we possibly could, running, swimming, and surfing…remembering just how much we love the sea. Riley is so happy we are home 24/7 with more walks, more swims, more treats, and all the attention…Mouse and Campbell are not so happy and wish we would just leave them in peace. All in all, despite the lows, we have had pretty good outcomes. We all know what we don’t want to be doing! Another positive – Expert2 and I celebrated 25 years of marriage, who knew! What a journey of love and life this has been, from looking like we were about 12 to all grown up! Grateful that we are all healthy, and have each other. Looking forward to not only the new year, but to what the next 25 years are going to bring!
