Christmas 2021

Christmas has come and gone, again, in this strangest of years.  

Sipping my coffee at Barista Parlor Golden Sound on a cold Saturday morning, listening to music (Bon Iver, maybe) on their turntable, I feel a bit melancholy.  

With the pandemic raging and people dying in our city, and across the country, in record numbers, we hunkered down and stayed home for Christmas.  As much as I hate it, we decided not to get together with Jude's parents, because we didn't want to risk - somewhere - getting them sick.

I especially hate it because I know how much Christmas means to Jude's mom, Jane.  She reminds me, a lot, of my mom in that way, which made it all the harder to celebrate Christmas apart.  We made the best of a difficult situation, though and "Zoomed" with Jude's parents, on my laptop and Joe's iPad, while we opened presents.  It wasn't he same as having them at our house Christmas morning, as has been the case for more than a decade.

When is this all going to end?  Will things get back to normal?  

One of the many tragedies of the pandemic - and it's certainly not unique to our family - is that the time we've lost with Jude's parents, well, we won't ever get that back.  As I know firsthand, those times spent together are precious and to be treasured, for sure.  I don't like to think about all of the shares times, events, and occasions we've missed with Jim and Jane.  Sundays at St. Patrick's and, often times, lunch afterwards.  Birthday parties.  The boys' baseball and basketball games.  Holidays, like Christmas.

It seems unfair and it pissed me off that so many others, including several members of Jude's family, are traveling over the holidays, Covid-19 be damned, at putting others at risk, while we play by the rules and keep to ourselves.  I went to bed, I guess, angry about this and, later,  I dreamt I was arguing with visiting attorneys in my office who refused to wear a mask.  It's crazy how the pandemic permeates every waking, and sleeping, moment of our lives.

I can't help but wonder about the short-term and long-term effects of the pandemic on J.P. and Joe.  Thank God they're in school, in person.  At least they're around their friends - albeit distanced and wearing masks - every day.  Metro Nashville's students have been in school remotely all year long and they're not returning to in person learning anytime soon.  That's tragic for those children.  

So many families have pulled their children out of Metro Nashville public schools and enrolled them in private schools.  Metro Nashville public school already were struggling and things are likely to get worse with so many good families leaving.  

So, here I am, the day after Christmas, trying to figure it all out.  I'm enjoying the time off - God knows I need it - but I'm anxious about how bad it's going to get in Nashville, and everywhere, the next couple of months.  Worse than anyone imagines, I fear, particularly with all of the idiots ignoring the warnings from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) against traveling over the holidays.  There will be a big spike in cases - and deaths - in mid-January, I bet.  I don't think many people realize how bad it's going to get.  

Well, I guess, for me, it's been a blue Christmas.