Saturday, December 19, 2020
absolutely TRUE heroes....(and gingerbread!)
We are in the midst of a global pandemic. Whether you believe in the lockdowns, or the rules, or whether you believe a mask helps or hinders, we ARE in a pandemic. There are "cases", but then there are actual hospitalizations and deaths. This is where it gets real. We're at a critical point here in central NY state, where the hospitals are getting full, and there are so many seriously sick people. Here's what I'm getting at: my daughters aren't coming for Christmas. They live in town, five miles away. One is a nurse practitoner, one a nurse educator/chemo infusion/oncology nurse, and Abigail, she's an accountant, but she lives with Emily and Mariel.
(Mariel in black, Abigail, Emily, circled)
They decided not to come because they care about people. They love people. Em works in pulmonary care now, and the dr. she works with is absolutely critical right now, of utter importance to treat people, and if he were to get sick...well, that would be awful. Emily wants to do all she can to protect everyone she can, so she's lying low for a bit. Mariel too.
When I found out they weren't coming, I was brave and told them I understood. I do understand. We did this in the beginning, for months, then got toether a bit outside, then as things worsened in the autumn, we knew it was coming, the separations again. But I did cry when I got off the phone. I cried because they are my girls, and Christmas is family and memories. I also cried because I am in awe of how good and soft their hearts are. It's one thing to follow the letter of the law, but to do it out of love for other people!
We decided they would come over in the early afternoon, and just stay on the deck for a bit, exchange gifts in the snow, social distanced. So it's not that bad. It's not the whole Christmas brunch and dinner, but it's something, and it'll be special.
It's hard to whine about it when so many others have it much worse. And when there is so much to be thankful for. But it's my blog and I'll whine if I want to, right?
I got up bright and early this fine morning to roll out and bake the gingerbread pieces.
It took several hours!
We planned, and cut the templates last night.
The house smells amazing!
There will be three houses, three teams. Margaret and Evelyn, Sonja and Camille, Charlotte Claire and me.
We also have cookies galore!
Jonathan brought home coffee from Oregon, oh so good!
Yesterday afternoon, we watched Lydia and this sweetie, little Ophelia, while Molly and Josh did some Christmas shopping. (Baby Tennyson in the background)
Some of us pitched in and bought Molly a gift, some really nice nursing shoes...
We couldn't wait until Christmas! She needs comfy shoes! She started a new job in a big hospital west of here, hopefully she won't end up on the Covid floor, although that's selfish, someone has to do it, but ugh.
This is one of my favorite pics, my oldest (Emily Anne), and youngest, Camille Anaya. Emily and I are 19 years apart, Em and Cam are 22 years apart.
Just a lovely pic of Abigail...
Mariel and I.
So I still have some gifts to wrap, and a house to clean, and what on earth is for dinner? Paul is bow hunting, one deer isn't enough, I guess. He's all excited for ice fishing to begin...
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
8 comments:
Your girls are being so good. they've just told us that instead of meeting up of 3 family groups over 5 days we can now only meet on 1 day. how are we supposed to pick who we spend time with, the uk gov have got it wrong a lot. But the light is at the end of the tunnel and I can actually see some personal positives coming out of this so its ok.
Yep - was 99.9% sure your girls would opt not to come to Christmas but it's good that you let them make their decision and accepted it graciously. (Ok, with some tears... LOL.) You can still Facetime that night though! Share some of the fun with them that way. We've done that many times over the years since our crew can't usually get together due to the crazy work schedules of everyone and 1000 miles that separate us.
I made gingerbread houses from scratch one year - did the paper pattern, etc. the whole bit. It was fun but a lot of work and it never became a 'tradition' that we repeated each year. It may sneak back into one of our Christmas celebrations in the future though!
Oh - and our daughter needed work shoes too! So we gave her her Christmas gift early (2 weeks ago). She was willing to wait but she really needed them. I took the box back and told her I was wrapping it up and putting it under the tree. LOL. That way she still has a box to open, even though it will be empty. She laughed. Thought it was a good idea even though no one else will understand why she got an empty shoe box!~ LOL.
Your daughters are the true heroes in all of this. Bravo to them.
Hi Della 👋 I did wonder if your nurses would opt not to come. We’re not getting together with our nurses either......there’s 3 of them too. My daughter and family are coming Christmas Eve and will sit on our driveway and us in the garage, have a drinkie and open our pressies from each other and a bit of a visit. My granddaughter is coming too. Yes it’s sad, but the best we can do at the moment. We have all said we will have to have a big family gatherings in July!! Ophelia is growing up fast!! Soooooo cute 🥰 The gingerbread houses sound like a lot of fun and you did a great job baking it all. I will be watching for the photos ☺️ I just feel asleep in my big comfy chair and woke myself up with a big loud snort!!🤣🤣🤣🤣 How attractive!!🤣🤣🤣
Marilyn from Canada 🇨🇦
Marilyn, thank you for the laugh, I do the very same thing, too funny! You can't believe how much better I feel after writing this, and the kind comments from you all. It's not that I want anyone else to suffer, but it's comforting that we're not the only ones. And there is a light at the end of the tunnel, Chrissy, because at least in warmer weather we can get together a bit outside, and I think this thing will peak here soon and dissipate. My aunt said recently, "You've gotta have hope, because if you don't, you might as well just lie down on the floor and die." A bit dramatic, but true!
Same at our house on Long Island. My daughter is a nurse so she and her family will not be here. My son does X-rays at local hospital, he and his family will not be coming either.My husband also works in hospital and stays away from others. We will celebrate the birth of our savior with our college age girls who are home. We won’t complain because we are healthy and it could be worse. Our pastor, early 40’s and healthy is in hospital in critical condition due to Covid. Our hearts hurt for his wife and children.
Been a very tough year for so many. But we have hope because of Jesus.
Judy
Your girls are so good and selfless; God bless them and I pray they stay healthy.
I agree, we've got it good, but still, sometimes you want to whine about it.
I'm in awe of your gingerbread parts; they look perfect!!
This is a scary situation here in NY. my son is also a nurse at the county Jail .
He is not coming for Christmas. Thank your daughters for all they do. I pray we all stay safe and healthy.
Merry Christmas.
Donna
Post a Comment