Life Right Now.
What a week it has been! We are in the midst of a Corona virus pandemic. Schools and churches have closed, many store shelves are looking empty as people stock up on essentials. Some items like hand sanitizer and toilet paper can’t be had in certain locations—even Disneyland has closed its doors through the end of this month. The buzzword is social distancing and the hashtag #flattenthecurve is definitely trending. In light of all the unprecendated (at least in our lifetime) that we’re experiencing, I’m writing a Life Right Now for you, but more specifically for my unfolding family story.
I hope that you will take the opportunity to do the same.
On Sunday, I posted this photo to Instagram with a request that my followers share aspects of life that cannot be cancelled. Within a few hours, there were more than 100 comments and a very inspiring list of the most essential things in life that don’t have to change. Check it out HERE.
A week ago today, (Thursday, March 12th) my son, Taft flew home for a few days to get some dental work done and to attend the temple—both of these in preparation for his upcoming mission to Peru. We were leaving the dentist office when he got word that his university (BYU) would be closing on-campus instruction and students, where possible were encouraged to return home. As I write this, we are in a hotel in Provo. We drove down via Rexburg (read the update on Chase below) and today we will pack up his stuff, check him out of his dorm and move him back home.
Clark & Lauren who have been living in Seattle—basically quarantined with a new baby—were able to fly to Arizona last Saturday. There was much deliberation about this decision. Luckily, Lauren’s mom works for American Airlines so they could literally see the vast number of empty seats on possible flights and took safety precautions so that they are now enjoying much needed sunshine and family time with the Cheneys. Clark’s finals at the UofW dental school were either cancelled or administered via take home tests. He is now enjoying spring break—until further notice.
Chase was also home for the weekend. He drove back on Sunday and ended up in the hospital with a gallbladder attack early Monday morning. Life is an adventure!! We moved up our drive to Utah, leaving Tuesday and stopped in Rexburg to get Chase settled for his recovery. He stayed with us in a hotel after being discharged and yesterday Taft, Addie and I shopped for him, helped prepare a few healthy meals, cleaned his bathroom 😳 and did his laundry. He is on the mend. And will continue to live in Rexburg, ID because he has a full-time job—at least for now! He will take classes online as well.
We celebrated St. Patrick’s Day early this year and then headed out on the road …
… where we experienced this beautiful, full arced rainbow. I had to stop, gain some perspective and take a photo!
Geoff, who works as an ENT physician and surgeon in a private practice has cancelled all elective surgery and has with his fellow physicians and office manager put precautions in place to protect them and the patients they continue to see. Geoff also serves in our area as a stake president for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This means he is—with ten bishops of local congregations—responsible for the temporal welfare of members and others in our geographic area. These local church leaders have been meeting via Google hangouts to implement directives from our general church leaders and to see that the most vulnerable among us are being taken care of. Witnessing the efficiency and compassion of this unfolding process has been truly remarkable. Geoff because of asthma, allergies and an autoimmune condition is immunocompromised and therefore very cautious and alert to updates with this Corona crisis.
Addie and I are feeling very grateful for the decision we made last year to do school at home. It was a big transition last fall, but is now one less thing that has to change. Of course Taft is home, but he is easy and self-directed. My heart goes out to other mothers who are now adjusting to children at home full time—especially those who are still working or working from home. I pray that as we hunker down and focus on most important family relationships we will be enabled to do what we most need to do.
In all of this, I am most grateful for my foundation of faith and my church community—and I wish to invite others who don’t have resources like this available to them to reach out to either our church or another one for help. There are so many good and prepared people that can help. If you don’t have access to the help and emotional support you need, please leave me a comment and I will do what I can to connect you to resources.
One of the things we all have available to us is the ability to question our default thoughts and examine the feelings that are causing—in other words to be very present and curious about our mental health, so we can show up in heathy ways during this pandemic. My guest on my podcast today is my own life coach, Jody Moore. She has been instrumental in me doing this important work and I’m excited to introduce you to her—you can listen to our interview here. You can also listen to Jody’s podcast, Better Than Happy.
I encourage you (again) to take pictures of life right now and to record the details of your daily life, as well as your thoughts and feelings. Our individual and collective stories are so important.
❤️ Let’s keep telling them.
