What a year this has been! Unlike any other year I've experienced. Last November we discovered our son's prodigal path. Then, at the start of 2020, my dad broke his arm, necessitating my stay with them in Florida, where I watched my mother almost shrivel away into death. In March, the pandemic arrived with lockdowns, inconveniences, and uncertainty. Month by month, as I've kept my own chart of the pandemic statistics for Indiana, I've watched the numbers climb.
August brought schooling decisions. Sean wanted to play football (amid my worry that such an activity would be unsafe), so we selected in-person schooling for him. For Trevor, wanting to continue his morning hours at his ranch internship, we selected at-home learning. That has been extremely challenging. I think his teachers were unprepared for providing both in-person and remote learning options. So many glitches. For his engineering class, the students in the classroom have access to software and programs for completing their assignments, while Trevor is told to draw sketches of the work (a far more time-intensive method and so he just neglects it). He also tanked on his Algebra class. Without in-person instruction, he felt unprepared to tackle the many assignments. Plus, once you are behind in a math course, catching up is hard because concepts build on one another. It has been difficult to determine if his failure is due to insufficient preparation for requirements or lack of motivation. He has always been in the honors courses and is thankfully far ahead because his middle school courses counted for high school credit. Still, quite difficult to see a gifted student fail classes.
Isolating and avoiding exposure is less challenging for us, since my husband works from home and I only leave to get groceries (and books from the library - 😉 - but use curbside pickup for that). Nonetheless, in October, John grew sick. He had barely been anywhere and always wears a mask. However, he had been working in the attic where we thought mouse droppings may have exposed him to hantavirus (a very serious lung infection that leads to death in over half the cases). He had chills, fever, headache, cough, difficulty breathing without coughing. Of course, the minute he suggested this as a possibility, I began envisioning my life, especially parenting my prodigal, without the support of my husband. To say terror overtook me is putting it lightly.
We also wondered if bird droppings might be responsible. We still have our friends, the turkeys, hanging around, and John has been raking damp leaves full of bird droppings. Thus, we thought it might be histoplasmosis. When he at last went to see a doctor, they insisted on a COVID test and also performed a chest x-ray. The x-ray revealed bacterial pneumonia. They gave him antibiotics, and the symptoms vanished.
Then, his test results returned - positive. We were in disbelief, mostly because his symptoms cleared with antibiotics (antibiotics do not kill viruses). Also, he had hardly isolated himself from us (made many of our meals), yet none of the rest of us had any symptoms or difficulty. Still, Trevor's job required a test before he could return to work, and the CDC required us to quarantine for two weeks beyond when John's symptoms cleared. Sean became a remote learner, much to his dismay (and he also had difficulty - for example, for one test on "The Ride of Paul Revere," the teacher included questions with specific verse references, yet he could not leave the test page to seek those verses - the students probably had the poem printed out at their desks - he brought up the poem on his phone, but still had to count down the verses to get to the appropriate designated sections). Trevor's test returned negative, as expected, and they allowed him to return to work.
Bryce had planned a two-week Thanksgiving visit (working from home for the first week). Even though our quarantine would have ended the day of his arrival, he changed his plans to stay at his best friend's house for the first week in case we came down with the virus. The day of his flight, he learned his best friend had tested positive for COVID. So, he ended up at our house after all. Praise God! He learned the results prior to his flight and not after he had already gone to stay with the friend.
He also planned to attend a small birthday party/getaway in KY with several other friends the weekend before Thanksgiving. This filled us with dread, because his 92-year-old grandmother intended to come here for Thanksgiving. Not wanting to chance exposure, or infect his grandmother, he canceled those plans (praise God). Almost as soon as he cancelled, we learned that his grandmother's retirement center would not allow her to travel here (relieving some of my stress over preparing a big Thanksgiving dinner - although I roasted a turkey for the first time and, despite my lack of kitchen skills, succeeded).
Thus, I am settled into a deep state of gratitude this weekend. My prodigal son has improved some. My father and mother moved into an assisted living facility just prior to this whole pandemic explosion, and I have more peace of mind, knowing they receive thorough care. God has protected us from the pandemic virus and a worse virus (hantavirus). We drove over to Illinois on Friday and had an outdoor visit with Grandma in a heated tent (she has been desperate to see us all; she's a social individual, so the restrictions are excruciating for her).
Bryce and Sean have spent time together playing Rock Band (always a blessing to see them share this experience). Here is a photo of one of their stellar performances - 98% each with a score passing 1 million:
Though challenges abound, God's grace and mercy abound ever more.
Gratitude in a Pandemic Year by Wendy Gorton Hill
G – od has given many things that I do not deserve
R – ight relationship with Him and freedom through His Word
A – nd with that firm foundation, amid this crazy year,
T – rials simply reinforce that He alone is dear
I – need not fear tomorrow, with all its troubling woe
T – rusting His protection is the only way to go
U – nworthy, though I may be, His promises are true
D – espite uncertainty, He’ll surely see me through
E – ach detail ever subject to His command and view.
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