I saw a meme about 202o. It went like this:
2020: January February COVID December
That felt accurate.
Sunday
Sammy loves when Brian visits. It makes me happy to see them together… and guilty.
Monday
This picture of Christina hosting announcements from her living room with the fake snow and the exaggerated participation in the holiday spirit week and the attempt at smiling through a troubled expression… If someone in the future asks how teaching during the pandemic was, we can simply point to this picture. This. It was like this.
Tuesday
Sammy and his Choo Choo, which is really mine. My dad’s gift to me on my first Christmas. It’s been stored at my parent’s, along with the train my brother received on his first Christmas. I asked them to bust it out because I’ve been in a nostalgic mood lately.
I don’t know what it is exactly — if it’s this crazy year finally coming to a close or the terrible waiting game with Sammy… or something else. A discussion with my mom about how she broke down thinking about the family and my grandma… a thoughtful, engraved keychain from Brian and a container of homemade frosting from his mom… a look back at a few Christmases ago when I was attending the funeral of the brother of an old friend… These only served to make the holiday’s edges seem sadder.
But coziness is not in short supply in this household of two right now. And that’s something to be grateful for.
Wednesday
We hang out together. That’s what we do. And that’s all we did on the first day of holiday break.
Thursday
My mom has a knack for decorating. And Christmas wouldn’t feel like Christmas without the sparkle and ethereal glow that seem to emanate from the house itself after Robin Azzarito has worked her magic.
It was just my mom and me this Christmas Eve. We had a traditional dinner of perogies and let Bailey come in the living room to snuggle with me after. Of course, we then had to vacuum because she’s shedding like crazy and dad would be upset if he found out we let her in there, but whatever.
Friday
What a weird holiday. Nicer than expected, but still strange. No fried dough and puzzle in the morning. My brother and Katrina couldn’t come to town because of COVID — they didn’t want to put any of us at an unnecessary risk. So that sucked. But my mom is somewhat laid up because of her recent knee surgery and hasn’t been working, and my dad is officially retired (again), so I was able to hang with them a bit.
We FaceTimed with Steven and Katrina for some gift opening… My brother and I always go in on gifts for them together. This year was no different. What was different is that a few of the kids were with me and a few were with him in Boston. He messaged a few days before, saying he didn’t know what to do about the gifts he was in possession of — obviously he couldn’t ship them in time. My response: Obviously you’ll be wrapping them and then unwrapping them for Mom and Dad.
Saturday
My parents brought over lunch and watched some TV with me. I was on the floor working on my new Bullet Journal, so naturally Sammy had to be curled up right behind me. He gets along with my dad okay, so didn’t hate that he sat next to him, and then was so tired he actually kind of liked that he was periodically petting him! My sweet, Sammy kii. This picture is proof that he can be tolerant of others.