In April, I watched the news reports of ports closing and ships being unable to dock with passengers who needed medical attention. By mid-month Norwegian notified us that we could choose to re-book our cruise later in the year at a huge savings, or opt out for a refund. After vacillating for two weeks, we opted for the refund. A month of being under the Stay-At-Home order convinced me that the idea of being sequestered in a 12x12 room for multiple days...maybe weeks seemed miserable, regardless of a balcony view. And while my husband and I get along pretty well, there is only so much togetherness that couples can manage.
Our mask brigade, (the name we gave our new sisterhood of mask seamstresses), continued to sew and send masks out like crazy in April. We also started "coffee dates" on Zoom to connect and share secrets about mass producing masks, how to find elastic (nearly impossible to locate), and how we could connect to drop off fabric. We also shared pictures of the masks we had made. A few of the ladies kept their collections pretty conservative with simple solid fabrics, and others (me included) went a little diverse with our fabric choices. I opted for patterns with dogs, bumble bees, PA sports teams, fishing and anything that I thought would be interesting enough for people to "like" their mask and wear them. I also invested in a Hotfix tool that would allow me to bedazzle a few. By this point my girlfriends were well aware of my new philanthropic endeavor and they too needed masks. Theirs would be "special". Coordinating colors to their outfits, prepping of summer with linen colored fabric and black...with a tiny crystal beauty mark...courtesy of my new bling tool!
Work life, a month into the stay at home order, was intense. Multiple new meetings in the week that went through COVID numbers, service issues, PPE (personal protective equipment) shortages and how to get donations to organizations, war room updates (yes, this was a new team to address daily COVID issues), and end of the day meetings with our contracting partner to go over our monitoring efforts. At least 2 hours of new meetings a day, outside of the one-offs and in addition to the regular work that gets done each day. I found myself sitting in front of two screens for 10 hours, often longer, every single day. One thing I did notice was how quickly the days and weeks flew by. Monday would arrive and Friday would be at my door the next day...at least it felt that way.
By the end of April, it was determined that the virus was going to be sticking around for awhile. After watching business close and flights get cancelled, it was time to get real about the wedding and what to do next. The venue would not agree to a refund. Their contract had language that protected them from having to give up a penny. Our only recourse was a re-scheduling. My son and his fiancé pushed the date out to June 2021 and began notifying their guestlist. I was heartbroken for the kids but I have to say, the way they handled their acceptance of their "big day" getting cancelled, showed such maturity. It was one of those proud Mom moments for sure.
By the end of the week, we had received a call that the kids had decided to keep their date of May 29th and would opt for a civil ceremony with immediate family-only. The huge event with all of their friends and extended family would take place June 5, 2021. Now we at least have SOMETHING to look forward to.
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