feliceOur house has felt like Noah’s ark. They’ve come 2 by 2. Two dinner guests at a time, refueling my depleted extrovert tank and giving my husband a reason to grill. It’s been surprisingly satisfying to visit with friends. There has been no room for air kissing and superficial chit chat. Face to face we sit, eating off our separate appetizer plates and truly feeling engaged.
After 10 weeks of safe socializing there is an almost normal quality to our home life. At least that’s what we tell ourselves.
In late July, we thought we were ready for some family to stay over. However, as excited as we were, we wondered how it would work.
I’m happy to report, our sister and brother in law gave us the perfect house gift which we may request each time someone comes to sleepover.
When we were in Florida in March and April and washing our groceries, a sleepover was unimaginable. In our current reality, as the pandemic still rages on, overnight house guests still sound questionable and daring.
But, after not seeing our west coast kids for what is now going on 6 months, including a new grand baby born in July and a quick peek a boo to our east coast new grand baby in May to welcome her into the world, we have been admittedly starved for our family and friends.
So when my sister, and our sister and brother in law and one of our kids with their not yet 3 month old and 3 year old — over a period of 3 weeks, decided to stay with us, we were over the moon but concerned.
Luckily our home is on an island that has fared remarkably well during the Pandemic despite concerns that we would be over run with cases and insufficient medical facilities. Hats off to Martha’s Vineyard to have made it though mid-August with a grand total of only 50-something cases since this all began. There are many reasons for that (see last week’s interview with Deb Rusckowski about the Covid testing site launch on the island).
Never the less, although caution prevailed, our guests arrived by Ferry with the best house gift ever…a negative Covid test that very morning! They had gone to a walk in clinic on the Cape, and with “negative” results in hand, we greeted them with a deliriously fulfilling hug. For the first time we were able to just “be” ourselves and have our summer visit.
And, suddenly, with available testing, we had hope for more family and friend visits.
I just read today about a saliva Covid test #SalivaDirect with a 3 hour turn around time. How brilliant is that? Bring it on.
I am hoping when I see my new grand baby in Seattle. I will come off the plane, spit into a #Salivadirect vial, get an immediate negative result and hold that little girl for the very first time. It almost feels like a fantasy but does it have to be?
Stay safe everyone! There’s reasons to be hopeful.
Love to all.
Felice