A second and third trip have now been cancelled because of COVID. We wonder when we will be able to travel again. We now consider our fourth trip to be time travel through a pandemic to a different future than we expected.
While it is disappointing to delay those trips, it has really hurt to miss birthday parties with our grandchildren. Over the summer we were unable to travel to New York for Annora’s birthday party. That was the first time we were not with one of our grandchildren for their birthday. We had planned a short trip up the east coast to visit Chris and Lisa, part of our family, in New Hampshire on the way to Annora’s party in New York.
On top of that, we have not been able to visit our mother Joan for months now, even though she is a mile away, because she is in an assisted living facility. For her safety and the safety of all the other residents, the facility has been in lock down for protection against COVID. The physical health protection is working. The separation is taking a heavy mental health toll on her however.
We have delayed our plans for our August and September trip to see Ohio, Illinois, Wisconsin, Isle Royal National Park, Voyagers National Park, North and South Dakota, Teddy Roosevelt National Park, Wind Cave National Park, Mount Rushmore, Badlands National Park, and Falling Waters Pennsylvania.
Now we will miss our grandson Declan’s September birthday as well. Losing opportunities for family time is not something that can be replaced or deferred, it is just gone. Video calls and phone calls are nice, but not the same as time together.
It is now unclear when we will be able to travel again. We continue to plan for future trips, but as everyone has learned, the changes and the uncertainties of this time weigh heavy on us all. Sometime in the future we will be past all this difficulty, but for now, patience and waiting is hard work.
We are thankful for our health and the health of our family. At least COVID has helped us lose weight since we no longer go out to restaurants. We have filled our time with projects that might never have been completed. It will still be great when this pandemic is over.