What do you do when there is no right choice? Frankly, I don’t know! Often, when there is no right choice, I find myself torn between the options. Which option carries the greatest risk? Which carries the greatest reward? Which effects the most people? Which can I live with?
Covid has created one more paradigm to fret over! It’s holiday season! In short order, I have Kenzie’s birthday, the Jewish New Year, Jeremy and Allyson’s birthday, Thanksgiving and Chanukah/Christmas.
Ideally, my family comes together in celebration. Erin’s family could come from Virginia and Jeremy’s family could drive up from Georgia. Steve’s parents live here. Fifteen strong, we should party late into the night celebrating the blessings of family, especially since we now live within driving distance of all of them.
Here’s the rub. Each of my kids have a lifestyle of their own making. Erin’s kids go to school with other kids. Jackson plays baseball, Hannah is an active 12-year-old. Each have risk of being infected by Covid. Each may carry the disease that could devastate their family.
Jeremy’s family have a tight neighborhood social circle and come into contact with other families on a regular basis. Jeremy and Allyson are excellent parents and have taken RJ on many trips to the lake and beach this summer. Allyson and RJ go to school 5 days a week. They are highly cognizant of the risk factors for Covid and take active precautions. They still may carry the disease that could shatter the family happiness.
Renee and I are marooned at home. We go to the grocery store, keep social distances, see Lisa and Steve regularly, see Steve’s parents weekly and interact with people at the pool and on our block always at a distance. No matter how low Renee, myself, Lisa, Steve and his parents risk factors are, we still may carry the disease that is capable of causing serious harm to those I love.
So, do we physically come together to celebrate birthdays and holidays? The odds of getting sick are small. Do we play the odds, or do we isolate ourselves, honker down and wait for a vaccine? Again, I don’t know. I know I want to/need to see my children. None of us know how long we have to live but I suspect that I have less time than most.
If I choose the safest approach, we celebrate the holidays on Facetime or Zoom. I feel secure in my new house and absolutely miserable that my concerns kept my family from being together. If I choose to gamble with my health, I get the pleasure of actually hugging my children and celebrating with them. I may also have to pay a devastating price to be with them.
There is no right answer! This scenario is not unique to the Segal household. It’s playing out in multiple homes across the country. This promises to be a miserable holiday season no matter what decision you make.
As for me and Renee, we have chosen to stay isolated and sad that another year will go by without an in-person family gathering. This sucks! Perhaps, with proper planning, we will have a scheduled holiday family party after a 2-week, self-imposed, quarantine of all involved. A 2-week quarantine is no easy feat when you have children ranging from 6 months to 14 years old.
Every time I think life is bound to return to our old normal ways, something happens to point out that the new norm is likely to be foreign to all we know.
I know I sound morbid. I am! What are you doing this year?
Here’s your music for the day and a joke as well.
