I am choosing to be thankful for the pandemic.
Don’t get me wrong, there is a list of reasons as long as a CVS receipt why I am not thankful for the last two plus years.
But I’ve forced myself to sit down and reflect and to find the positives in the overwhelming darkness of the pandemic.
Friendship. Health. A job that allowed my husband to work from our basement. Two healthy girls. A roof over our head. Food on the table. A job that became fully remote and allowed us to move to Central Florida. The list goes on…
I made the list for my own mental health. I couldn’t sit in the sadness any longer. I had to work very hard at making that list, at finding anything to be thankful for. But I have, and the list is long.
At the top of my list are two dear friends. Friends who have always cared for us and us for them. Friends who have known my husband and I from the first day we met. Friends who were at our wedding, and us at theirs. Friends who our girls call Aunt and Uncle. They have always meant so much to us but the last two years highlighted their importance in our life.
So very thankful for their friendship.
Early in April of 2020 we started doing virtual cocktail evenings with them. The four of us needed something to look forward to, friends to vent to and people to lean into in those early, scary days of the pandemic. We would put our kids to bed, grab a cocktail or beer and then would FaceTime our friends a state away. Suddenly the physical distance between us felt so small. That first cocktail session lasted until well after midnight. Our sleepy eyes the next morning were so worth it.
So very thankful for their friendship.
It quickly became a bimonthly event. And then late one night over Black Friday weekend of 2020 we booked a week long vacation for the summer of 2022 with them.
Because, surely the pandemic would be over by then. And we’d deserve a vacation.
We were right about one of those things. Gosh did we all need that trip.
Our week away was pure bliss. Full of endless meals, cocktails, sun, sand, exploring a gorgeous island and friendship. We left with hearts and bellies full. Hearts full of gratitude and thankfulness. Bellies full of amazing food and cocktails.
Grateful for the time away. Thankful for the best friends who willing spent their week away with us.
The pandemic made that trip possible. The pandemic made us see how important their friendship is to us and let us deepen our bond.
Despite every negative the pandemic has brought into our life, I am still so thankful.
I am choosing to be thankful for the pandemic.
