The Richest Life

 2020-

Tonight we sat around the table talking about funny stories from the past. This is one of our favorite dinner discussions. We love to talk about Garyn's "I still have my rocket!" story, Ansley's "Why you got that baby on your hip??" funny and the time Layne peed on a playground during a birthday party. I pulled out my blog book to get some more ideas and new stories. That is the reason I'm starting to write again. I love looking back over stories and having memories written down. Unfortunately, I have a terrible memory. There is so much to try to catch up on and I probably won't get through all of it. 

          For now, I want to start with this year. The year 2020 has been one for the books. I know it will be a year we talk about forever. The Covid 19 pandemic has lasted most of the year! For our family, school letting out was the first we really noticed. March 16th (maybe 17th) school closed with the anticipation of going back at some point. That never happened though. 

             We began our quarantine at home that lasted about 2 months. The government issued mask mandates and closed "non essential" stores, malls, bowling alleys, theatres and all sports were cancelled. We got a lot of drive through, stayed home and only saw Nana, Poppa, Uncle Philip, Aunt Kadie and the cousins. Tyler went to work 3 days a week to bus food out to Bradley County kids. I kept working part time but usually had shorter days. The school posted work online and sent home packets. Everyday was spent getting on zooms and watching videos to learn. 

             The great part about quarantine was getting to play Monopoly, watching movies and all the family time spent together. We had moments of feeling stir crazy and tired of not getting to go places but mostly loved the laid back days. One of my favorite memories, was the week long Monopoly we played! We set a bear in daddy's place if he was at work and would roll for him. I noticed each one of the kids personalities in how they played. Garyn was smart with his purchases and always wanted to make trades to his advantage. He also hated when he got close to loosing starting to give up or swindle someone out of  money to redeem himself. Ansley loved having money making sure she didn't run out of one particular bill. The hard part for her was letting it go! Tears would flow every time she got down to $50 or so. The world was ending; everyone needed to cut her a break so she didn't loose because that wasn't fair at all! Layne, sweet boy, was the first to give someone a break or money if they were about to go bankrupt. However, he was wise in purchases and usually had plenty of money to spare. Fun times those were!

              The summer and fall were fairly normal but still had to wear masks some and social distance. Some things did open up, like school and most restaurants. The funny yet sad thing is Chick fil a still hasn't opened up inside. We have been doing drive through for months and the kids have been so sad it won't open until the spring. 

             

Fast forwarding to now, we have gotten to experience the quarantine again.  Little different this time cause we are in a new house and Garyn has had the Coronavirus. Thankfully, Garyn wasn't bad sick and has been recovering well. We don't think anyone else got it either. We all had some mild symptoms but tested negative. Nana and Poppa had the virus as well and were also mild. They actually were able to do a clinical trial and got antibodies that most likely helped them recover. Unfortunately, Aunt Sharon got the virus October 8th and passed away on November 10th. It has been a sad day for us and a lot of other people who have lost loved ones from this virus. I'm just so glad Garyn and the rest of us weren't bad sick. The schools may be closing again if it keeps getting worse.

       

          I know our story with this pandemic probably isn't over so I guess it's ..........

                                TO BE CONTINUED.......for now!