This is Us

We had to cancel our trip to Mexico for a friend of the family’s destination wedding at the end of April.  My son was going to be on of the attendants but he is a nervous traveller so we all decided to go and make it a family vacation.  Whenever that can happen, its a bonus. We were sad to cancel the trip and take a loss in regards to a refund but these are the times we are living in and we really had no choice.  Coronavirus is not being kind to our finances or anybody elses.
However,  at this juncture we are all holed up together here in the south of Calgary in our comfy family home.  It just so happens that both of our adult children are living at home right now and I couldn’t be more grateful to have them underfoot.  They have gone and they have come back and we’ve been wondering why life turns out the way it does but I am starting to get some revelation.   I wouldn’t want them to be anywhere else right now, especially with the hit to the pocketbook.  They don’t have to ‘not be able to pay their rent and be evicted’.  They don’t have to ‘not be able to see us because they are off quarantining in another country or province’. They don’t have to ‘not be able to afford food’ because they can eat at home and I am positively happy to cook for them. I don’t have to be ‘wondering how they are doing and feeling helpless to help them’.   My daughter has been experimenting with running her own business which happens to rely on large events (groups of people gathering together).  Needless to say, she has no work. We’ve all been relegated to home to do our part in flattening the curve.   So here we are.  This is Us.
There was a time when I may have believed that this situation was dysfunctional and co-dependent and a lot of other negative things that people may have judged us as idiots for allowing.  But I finally came to the place where I believed that God knows what He is doing ‘for such a time as this’. I was OK with being considered dysfunctional or maybe actually being dysfunctional.  Once I was OK with this then it didn’t bother me what others would think any longer.   And now, I am thanking God on bended knee that this is our situation.
We get to spend this isolation time together.  We had a dinner party the other night and then played Mexican train.   We built a snowman in the backyard on another day.  Today we went for a walk in a non crowded area and nearly froze to death, together.  Then we stopped at the grocery store for provisions (since we were already out). Probably not a great idea but too late now.  (We are taking all of this seriously btw).  And all returned home happy with our little isolation treats.
Sometimes I don’t like having everyone at home because I like to be alone.  For some reason, I don’t feel like I can do whatever I want when others are here.  Which is baloney because no one ever stops me from doing what I want.  But I do like to walk around the house and pray outloud when no one is home.(That’s not what you thought I was going to day, is it?  LOL)  In fact, I love doing that.  I don’t feel so comfortable doing it when others are here.  So now I do it when everyone is asleep.  And that is nice too.
We are all at home and getting along.  Grateful for that.  Every home and family can’t always make that claim.   We are giving each other their space (except when I insist they get out of their pyjamas and go for a walk).  We have great conversations when the kids aren’t holed up in their rooms.  The are so intelligent and fun. At some point they have to eat.  We like each other even though none of us is perfect.  I have to let some things go.  I can’t have the house spotless all the time.  I have to listen to their shows and music very often.  We have to share the space and we also have to respect each others health by washing and sanitizing our hands and things we touch after we’ve been out.  But there is a mature and mutual respect for what is going on in the world and we are looking out for each other.
This whole situation is totally surreal.  I can’t even believe its happening but if it had to happen then these are the people I want to walk through it with.  These are the people I want to be stuck in an elevator with.