2021 has been quite a year. Many of us happily ushered in this year with hopes and dreams of brighter days ahead. Eternal optimism did not quite deliver us into a new light, but many may have become more enlightened in the darkest of these days.

We began 2021 with hope. Hope that vaccinations would enable a return to somewhat normalized living conditions, reduce fears of endangering the grandparents and that we would see a benefit from all levels of students returning to the classroom. What my family experienced in Q1 was a bit of medical mystery, the vaccination of the grandparents, and then the unexpected death of my mother. We experienced a handful of bumps and victories along the remainder of 2021. Despite the challenges we also had much to celebrate, including the Emperor graduating from college and beginning a career in the US Army, Bling transferring to a university that better supports their struggling students, and the Professor finally setting foot on campus for his final undergraduate year of college.

I suppose it was only fitting that we began the year with medical mayhem and we end it in a similar vein? Perhaps that is what caught my attention when I read the article from NPR staffer Blake Farmer entitled "What our family learned from our post-Thanksgiving coronavirus outbreak". We, too, experienced a post-Thanksgiving COVID outbreak, but the impact of COVID was far different from his family's. Jumping on a trampoline would have rendered all of us on bed rest for days. All but one of the 5 were fully vaccinated, patients ranging from age 21-76. We all experienced the customary extreme fatigue that for the older crew is still lingering some 30 days later. We all lost sense of taste/smell 4 days after symptoms began and have recovered all or some of this sense at the publishing of this blog post. 2 of us received a monoclonal antibody infusion. 1 suffered a fever for upwards of 10 days. Body aches, chills, low grade fevers, dry cough, sore throat, sinusitis. Ironically, patient zero was boosted in the same week, the one individual subject to regular testing, and also the fastest to recover. It just goes to show how easy it is to miss a positive case by as little as 24-48 hours. We washed hands, wore masks, and avoided many of our friends and family. We were lucky that it did not extend further to those outside of our immediate circle. Like Blake Farmer, in hindsight, the only thing we could have done differently was to ask everyone to take an at-home test before stepping into the house for the break. I'm thankful that no one was worse off than fever with GI issues, and I would not wish this on my worst enemy. For me, it was as if the flu and mononucleosis birthed a 3-headed baby, where walking down the driveway was an exercise in exhaustion.

Heading into November, I had fortunately decided to cancel the usual Thanksgiving Feast this year, where COVID would have potentially impacted many more of the older members of our family. I just couldn't fathom celebrating one of my mother's favorite feasts without her this year. I like to think of this as another way that my mother (the public health nurse) was watching over our flock. I don't think I could have shouldered the weight of a family super spreader event this year.

All of the medical madness from Thanksgiving colored my Christmas celebration with more caution as the Omicron variant reared its ugly head. Our soldier in training would need to protect his health, so we implemented at-home testing to minimize the risks prior to his arrival. We shared Chinese takeout with my younger brother and his family while the kids decorated Christmas cookies. On Christmas Day we Zoomed with one side of the family and texted or called the others. There was, once again, no gathering of neighbors for festivities; no bustling and entertaining of more than our usual brood. As much as I long for a return to the merrymaking with passels of friends and family, I think we all needed a little more downtime this season. FOr the first time ever, we ate breakfast BEFORE opening gifts this Christmas, Santa wrapped ALL of his gifts, and the annual scavenger hunt was instead a singular group effort. Much to Bling’s dismay, we made Christmas pizzas (dough recipe: www.seriouseats.com/new-york-style-pizza) this year instead of the traditional turkey and mashed potatoes. I think what I craved most was novelty this year.

The same traditions that I have loved year over year were no longer a comfort this year. If I couldn’t change the levels of isolation and absence of loved ones, I knew we could change the experience in some other manner. Some of us cling to and find comfort in the traditions during uncertain times like these. We chose to buck many of our traditions this year. Perhaps that is my way of closing out this chapter of life, overshadowed by the grief that we felt in 2021. Giving myself permission to let go of the expectations was just what I needed to say farewell to a stressful year. How have you made space to bid 2021 farewell?