My Sailor

I don't really know how to describe the days leading up to Abby's sendoff, other than it felt like things kept building inside of me. I had been vaguely imagining the moment of saying goodbye in my mind for weeks, months, and I knew it would be rough, but I didn't realize how emotional it would be for me. I don't feel like I'm that emotional of a person- it takes a lot for me to cry. And the times I do cry it seems to come out of nowhere.

Iris would talk about the little things she would miss when Abby left- Abby's propensity to start baking every night at 10pm (outside my room- surprisingly, I'll miss that, too), finding fruit in the strawberry and raisin cereal (Abby would always pick that out and fuss whenever someone got to them before she did X-D), the frosting being left on the cakes Iris made- Abby liked to scrape off the best part for herself :-P. And I thought those were sweet things that reminded her of her sister. But I never felt like I was going to cry at the thought of her leaving.

I first felt my tears well up when I saw Abby saying goodbye to Opal on Sunday when Opal and Toby were leaving to go to Camp Gray. Abby started sobbing. That was hard to watch. On Monday, seeing her say goodbye to Grandma and Grandpa hit me hard as well. Who knows the next time she will see them in person? Monday morning, as I helped her and prepped to leave myself, my emotions just seemed like they were very close to the surface. Mike said something about me snapping at him, and I realized I had been without realizing it. I was extra emotional. And the floodgates just opened up. I sobbed, telling him how much I was going to miss her. How she'd just been a delight to have around the past few weeks, especially, how helpful she'd been, and how I've just really enjoyed talking with her like a friend. She's been a gift after a truly challenging previous year. He understood.

A half hour before Abby and I had to leave on Monday, I found the kids at the table playing a game together <3

The hardest goodbye 😭

I had to take Abby to Milwaukee on Monday afternoon- she had to sign something at the recruitment office in Janesville first at 2:30, so we left around 1:45. I was going to drop her at her hotel around 8 in Milwaukee and spend the night at the Wards', as MEPS, where she'd be sworn in the following morning, was only 12 minutes from their house. We had all afternoon in the car together, and after she checked in and dropped her things at the hotel, we went out to eat.

We split these... yum!

We had some time to kill before she needed to be back at the hotel, so we drove to Whitefish Bay, a charming town close to the water, and found a pretty path to walk on and got some ice cream at Fritzy's, a quaint, old fashioned Pharmacy. All that time together, God blessed our conversation... we talked about how God has worked in her life this past year, how He has strengthened her through the challenges, closed certain doors and opened others... and worked incredible miracles to bring her to this point! I have to share one, including a little more background of her journey to the Navy, here...

Ever since she decided to start training to go active duty a couple of months ago (not because she wanted to- she did NOT- but because that's what she felt God calling her to do after much prayer), She'd been working to improve her times for her PST (physical screening test). She was really hoping to reach that elevated PST score before boot camp so she could get a $15k bonus. She easily got the swimming with plenty of time to spare (thanks to her being on the swim team in high school) and sit-ups, but she struggled to get the running (10:00 for 1.5 miles- She had only gotten 10:40 two weeks before) and pull ups (10- she'd gotten 7) requirement.

A couple of days before her final testing opportunity she came down with what was likely strep. She didn't get tested because that would set her training leave date back, but she had a fever and a swollen red throat with white spots. She was in tears knowing the likelihood of her now passing the elevated test, which she already thought was fairly unlikely. But she traveled the hour down to Beloit to give it a try anyway.

I got a message from her at 12:55 saying she had "somehow [ahem...] passed the elevated PST scores!" She got 9:59 on her 1.5 mile and 10 pull-ups! Her timing officer told her when she finished, "Well, Ryan, you've sure got God on your side." (After first collapsing and sobbing happy tears) She assured him it was all God and told him she had a lot of people praying for her. So, she gets a $15,000 bonus when she graduates boot camp in August! That is nothing short of a miracle, if you ask me.

Kaethe sweetly asked if I'd want her to join me for the swearing in ceremony, and I'm so glad I had her there with me for emotional support and just to make me laugh when things seemed heavy. And we had to wait a while in different waiting rooms, as Abby was put in group two, since they had so many people, so it was nice to have company and chat with the other parents of recruits (something I do not excel at). I felt proud being the mom of one of the two female recruits there. One of the moms asked, "Is she the really fast swimmer?" She said their son, training to be a SEAL, said she's "like a bullet in the water!" and had finished before any of them. That's my girl!

I got a call from Abby on Tuesday night at 8:27, which lasted all of 11 seconds, telling me she was at boot camp and that she would give me another call in two days, and that she loved me. I'm thinking she meant two weeks, as I haven't heard anything, and it's been five days, and her recuiter told me she'd get a phonecall every two weeks or so. But we'll be anxiously awaiting her name on my phone screen, whenever that may be. My sailor. Fun fact: my Granddaddy's nickname for me was Sailor, as I once wore a temporary tattoo, reminding him of a sailor. And it stuck. 2He was in the Marines.

Isolated

I admit that just a few days ago, I was not in the least bit concerned about this far-off coronavirus that started in Wuhan Provence, China. The voiced concerns that I'd seen or heard seemed like hype to me, and initially, so did Mike working from home- a lot of "fuss over nothing," though I was certainly glad to get to have him home more often. We are four days into when he started working from home and all of our activities started being cancelled (though two of those days were weekend). I want to begin documenting this time- what a historical period to be living through!

Firstly, I know we are not nearly as affected by this pandemic as a lot of the world is/will be. We already homeschool, the kids already eat lunch here every day, we are able to afford stock-piles of food and supplies, as well as some extra indoor/outdoor activities/games that might enrich this time of being, for the most part, secluded. Our prayers go out to those whom it affects more severely, as well as, of course, those personally dealing with the infection of the virus.

We are grateful for our faith right now, especially, with the knowledge that God is ultimately the one in control. He has won the battle against the evil one and darkness. We have nothing to fear and put our trust in Him alone, and we know that this is only our temporary home until God calls us to our ultimate resting place, with Him. There are so many great verses that reiterate these points, and we keep reminding the kids of them, when they seem at all anxious. While their fears seemed very tangible at first (difficulty sleeping, etc.), I think they are accepting our current situation more and embracing it as well as they can by being proactive in helping out and finding things to occupy themselves while stuck at home. We've been working to make our once-scary cement basement a lot more inviting by adding more lights and some rugs and beanbags, which had been out in the garage. They've pulled out our Fort Magic and built a cozy hideaway with some sheets and Christmas lights, while listening to some audiobooks on the boombox, and we brought the train table from our other house. I'll post more pictures soon. They've also been taking advantage of our super fenced-in city lot and spending a ton of time playing outside... and in our vehicles. They spend hours out there :-D


Hill-rolling on Friday We've still managed to get outdoors by finding large areas of space nearby for the kids to run around and get out some energy. This morning the kids and I walked down to a big field 0.2 miles down the road and spent a long time there playing "field games" of sorts with some hula hoops and cones. Our trips back to our other house are good for burning energy as well. I'm glad we at least have that. Watching Mass live from Brisbane, AU

Bishop Hying has recommended that most people stay home from Mass, especially those with compromised immune systems (Mike has diabetes and is high risk if he contracts COVID-19), elderly, and children--and those who come into contact with these groups on a regular basis (I wonder who this doesn't include?). The kids enjoyed participating in a live streaming of a Sunday morning Mass from Brisbane, Australia and making an act of spiritual communion last night. The Aussies didn't seem nearly as concerned about physical contact or large groups of people, but the priest did mention (after Mass) a very similar list of new guidelines for receiving the Eucharist, greeting each other, etc., as have been recommended here.

I ventured to Aldi and The Healthy Place (to stock up on immunity boosters!) on Friday, and people were very friendly- going out of their ways, it seemed, to offer smiles, encouraging words, and thoughtful gestures ("Here, take my already-paid for cart." "Take my quarter." "No, please, take the cart." Hah!). It's nice to see people come together instead of some of the insults and blaming I have seen on social media (which I've fortunately given up for Lent, but I do peek in on Sundays). If ever there is a time for us to come together, even if from a distance, it is now.


Offering prayers of health, provision, and peace for all of our friends and loved ones, especially, during this time... What a Lent!

Snow Day!

Like my rad snowsuit? I think it used to be Mike's. Iris got some great shots of Toby and me making our way down the hill! The snow and wind really picked up before we came in!

Our Catholic Schoolhouse group was cancelled this morning due to snow. We decided last night that our family wasn't going, even if it wasn't cancelled- Mike said the roads near us were the worst he's seen since we moved here, and he couldn't make it up our driveway (unfortunately, the goats were out of food, and he had to haul 50 lbs of it up, in addition to some groceries and library books). But all of the schools nearby were closed, so it was cancelled anyway. We have now gotten about ten inches, and it continues to comes down in a fury out there. Mike's car is still stuck on the driveway, so he had to work from home today (yay!)

We did manage to do some school in the morning, but the kids went out to play in the afternoon, and Mike got a new snow tube, so I blew that up and joined them on our sledding hill. I'd forgotten how fun it is to fly down a hill and be in the snow (when it's not TOO cold, at least). What's more- I never realized we had such an excellent sledding hill! Poor Toby had a hard time walking all the way back up it (and once lost a boot), so I carried him partway a couple of times before we both headed in for some hot chocolate.