A series of essays….
BRENNA AND BREE BONDING BETWEEN BINGING (NETFLIX)
….as seen through my eyes!
By: Jacqueline E Hughes
At least twenty episodes of The Gilmore Girls later (thank you Netflix and our weakness towards binge-watching!), countless trips to Portage Northern High School during a whacky exam schedule then immediately off to gymnastics practice only to pick her up several hours later before enjoying dinner together. Spicing it up even more with spontaneous laughter, perhaps a few too many trips to enjoy ice cream, and romps on the living room floor with our fur baby and you have the future of our nation contained within our fifteen-year-old granddaughter—all wrapped-up in a perfect bow with a side of braces…
Not once did we complain. Being around Brenna tends to make a routine day a red letter one with her youthful enthusiasm being as infectious as good humor and optimism can be; especially during these past couple of weeks.
We have all been working on taking control back in the best way possible. But first, sacrifices had to be made as life’s routines were tumbled around like her tiny clothes (anywhere from size 0-4) in the dryer in order to cope with everything that, unfortunately, comes with the current tone of the world we live in.
In practice there is little or no difference in meaning between contagious and infectious when applied to disease or its spread—you get to choose the phraseology. Our daughter called us right before the last week of the school year for our grandchildren (Brenna a freshman and Gavin rounding-off fifth grade) to inform us that Gavin just tested positive for COVID-19. He had recently been experiencing headaches and his current temperature was hovering a bit over 102 degrees. He was doing okay with it until he realized that the final week of his fifth grade career began the following day on Monday and being in school with his friends and enjoying closing activities was not going to happen.
Despite the fact that all four had been vaccinated, along with boosters for those eligible, the impact from this pandemic hit them fast and furious, with very little warning. One tested positive with symptoms while the remaining three tested negative. Initially, Brenna panicked just thinking about having to miss her scheduled exams if she were to test positive. Our daughter gave us a call and we all reacted post haste.
Brenna was packed and crashing in our spare bedroom not long afterwards.
She made it through exam week with flying colors sans any symptoms whatsoever! So grateful for this. FaceTiming with her ‘gang’ at home helped to keep spirits up believing that her return was right around the corner. That was until our daughter began experiencing coughing and a runny nose. Was it simply allergies or a common cold? Most likely not. She tested positive on Sunday and gave us a call early that morning with the sad news. Our little houseguest would have to waylay her homecoming as her mom went into isolation while continuing to work from her home office.
I still cling to the premise that every single soul on this planet will, eventually, contract COVID-19. Having Doctor Anthony Fauci take his turn at the coronavirus karaoke mic, recently, proves my point. Dr. Fauci, the leader of the U.S. government’s COVID-19 pandemic response effort, experienced mild symptoms recently, tested positive, and has gone into isolation while continuing to work from home. There truly is no way of getting around this disease as long as one lives and breathes alongside their fellow humans. It is strictly a matter of time.
Well, today is D-day! Today our daughter and son-in-law take yet another coronavirus test. Today might just be the beginning of the end to all this madness and heartbreak for Ali and her family. I’m thinking negative results all the way. Fingers and toes crossed. Brenna deserves to be back into the fold and sleeping in her own bed.
As much fun as it is having her around us and, simply, having a teenager injecting youth and enthusiasm into our lives on a daily basis, Brenna needs home. Brenna needs to cuddle her dog, Oreo, and interact with her own immediate circle. This lends personal credence to the adage: absence makes the heart grow fonder.
Through all of this, Dan and I remain symptom free, virus negative. Although we are setting-up appointments for our second booster shot, as soon as possible.
I would have never believed that summer vacation would begin on such a deeply concerning note. Dan and I were very content to have been there for our children and little did we know how our decision to move back to Michigan would effect all of us. But, we always knew we would be happy to share our lives together, once again, and be there if and when they needed us to be.
Here’s hoping for some good news today!
Copyright © 2022 by Jacqueline E Hughes
All rights reserved
