2020: an unprecendented year

2020. What a year.  It's not surprising that the most common word used to describe the year was UNPRECEDENTED.  We truly haven't ever had a year like this one.   There are much fewer big events when I look back over the calendar, but rather a much longer list of small moments and simple things that helped us through the year.  No aspect of our life was left untouched or unchanged.  

Before we had any idea what was coming for us, January and February cruised along in their typical fashion.  In January, another young person N (17 years old) moved into our home from Honduras. I picked up our dear friends' son from preschool several days a week.  We blissfully enjoyed meals with family and friends, Luke commuted to work downtown (one year celebrated at Neighborhood Partnerships), we participated in the Access Covenant Church Community meeting at the community center down the street, library storytimes, Foster Parents' Night Out, birthday parties, and nights out with friends.  

In February, we enjoyed an annual Portland tradition- the Winter Light Festival.  We rock climbed with our niece and nephew for our belated Christmas gift.  We frolicked in the snow that came to our house.  We got to see our brother-in-law Quilen for a quick visit who was in town. We even got to meet one of my favorite NW artists, Nikki McClure at Powells.

Our last hurrah in March was a chance to see the Frozen live show with Nana.  We also were visited by Oma Lisa and Opa Ray, who cut their trip short, as the country began to shut down.  Luke promptly started to work from home or rather the shed in our yard, and the kids were delighted to have him eat lunch with us, as well as pop in for coffee break and afternoon snack time.  

In April, our foster daughter moved out as our home and family were not a good fit for her.  This is when the days and months really all start to blend into one another...

The summer passed in a flurry of outdoor adventures, which helped us all keep our sanity and offered us some incredible moments of beauty.  We camped more than we ever have with both family and friends to Takhlakh Lake, Mt. Adams, Timothy Lake, Camp Creek, Cape Lookout, Shellrock Lake, and by Austin Hot Springs.  Our little family spotted a bear up a tree, we paddled with fish just under the surface of the water at Harriet Lake, we kayaked at sunset on an empty Lake Merwin, and saw salmon playfully chasing one another up by Lucia Falls.  We spent Sunday mornings at the neighborhood farmer's market.  We became frequent customers at Sugarpine on the Sandy River as we soaked up the sun with friends and their kids.  We floated the Clackamas River for my birthday, and picked blackberries any chance we could find (to make another batch of blackberry wine that is aging in my closet as we speak).  We joined as many marches and protests as we could to add our voices to the chorus proclaiming that Black lives matter.  

In August, another young person, F, moved in.  We were delighted to have him stay with us for a month as he prepared to move into his first apartment.  We also got a new flock of five hens, transported to our house by bike of course.  

As fall began to set in, I began to watch Mateo again, playtime with him quickly becoming the highlight of the afternoon for Dahlia and Micah.  We harvested apples from an abandoned tree in the neighborhood and pressed cider with only our family- a sad departure from the bustling block party that typically ensues as we work through pounds of apples with our neighbors.  The wildfires that ravaged the country kept us inside for weeks and caused us to have renewed gratefulness for the outdoor spaces that we had relied so heavily on to get through the previous months. One of the most sad moments for me being that much of our beloved Breitenbush Hot Springs was burned to the ground four days before Luke and I were scheduled to go there to celebrate our tenth anniversary.  Instead, we spent the weekend installing a new sink in the bathroom.  That's pretty much been the name of the game this year- holding expectations loosely and finding the goodness where we can.  We celebrated Dahlia's fifth birthday with a rainbow cake and so many cards from dear ones.  Micah's second birthday passed with a candle to blow out and a garbage truck toy.  After much deliberation, we walked around on Halloween night to collect candy from bowls on neighbors' porches and to check out all the creative socially distant ways of celebrating.  

In November, I began a role as a mentor with Every Child for a foster parent who is walking through their first placement.  We also opened up our home again for another young person, I, who is 17 and from Mexico.  Thanksgiving came and had us all eating in our homes, separately.  December was rather uneventful, other than spending extra time with our niece and nephew as their parents had to travel out of town.  We also went out the Gifford Pinchot National Forest and cut down a tree which was just as fun as we hoped it would be.  Instead of my annual Christmas cookie swap party, I baked a few batches and dropped them off to friends.  Christmas came and went with Zoom calls with family members and opening stockings at home by ourselves.  We spent Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve with our beloved friends, the Kings, who we've been delighted to be stuck with in this pandemic.  Their company has really made it a heck of a lot more tolerable for all of us. 

Outside of the events above, I think this time will more realistically be characterized in my mind as one full of driveway happy hours with friends, meals to families with new babies and meeting them from a distance, picking up book bundles from the library, backyard socially distant fires, Zoom calls for everything- church, Zumba, pictionary with family, and weekly check ins with dear friends, pancakes each Sunday morning, Yoga with Adriene, so many walks around the block, drive-by birthday celebrations, the excitement of garbage trucks on Tuesdays, pizza night, masks, trips to the grocery store, fancy dinners (which means we pulled out placemats and candles for the table) and wondering when I'll get to hug all my dear friends again.  I'll remember the projects that we got to do around the house like build a bunk bed for the kids, replace our kitchen counter, install the bathroom sink, redo the porch roof.  My kids have grown so much this year and I lament the life that I've missed out on because of this distance, especially in the lives of dear ones with kids.  It's hard for me to remember that this year, I weaned Micah, cut off his incredible curly locks, and he moved out of our room to share with Dahlia.  He also moved into a bunk bed, we took away his binkies and is currently on his way out of diapers.  Long gone is the wordless toddler that we started the year with.  Dahlia has also grown and matured so much.  She learned how to ride a bike, dabbled in hair cutting (when she tried to give herself a new 'do), and is getting closer to being able to read.  She will start kindergarten this year, so we counted our lucky stars so many times that we did not have to navigate virtual school with a new kinder student.  

Phew, I'm exhausted just taking a second to look back over the year.  Here's to a 2021 that's a little more precedented!