This winter is going to be a decidedly different pace from past snowbird RV park winters. That much is quite clear.  We settled into our nice corner site at Wilderness Lakes and have met up with old acquaintances and met some new ones.  We are fortunate that the pool is open, and the weather so far has been staying consistently in the lower 80’s. Great poolside weather!

2020 is resulting in closed clubhouses, no indoor activities and of course no potlucks for the holiday meals. To people who don’t leave their families to escape the cold weather, it may not seem like a big deal, but the holiday potlucks are more than a huge communal meal. It is a place of fellowship and sharing and knowing that we are not alone in our mixed emotions of choosing warm weather over family for the holidays. Misery does indeed love company and the potlucks are soothing in that aspect. The stark reality of our choice flashes like an obnoxious neon sign in a hotel window when it is just two two of you trying to pretend Thanksgiving is special. This year that feeling was felt by most everyone with the times dictating distance.  We will all carry on and do what is needed to get through this trying time with as little adverse effect as possible.

We had originally planned to drive back to Iowa Thanksgiving weekend and surprise one of the grandkids by showing up for his birthday. As the time drew near and cases spiked in our home state, we all made the decision not to travel and were glad we had intended it for a surprise, so we didn’t have to let him down. Then the real surprise came.  Schools closed and with no notice parents all over were faced with trying to facilitate home based education with their own jobs and obligations. After a few conversations with our daughter, we decided to send me back to Iowa to help. Before I knew it, I had a flight booked for early morning the day after Thanksgiving. Flying was uneventful and I was impressed with the measures American Airlines had in place to make the trip a sanitary as possible. Champ dropped me at the curbside at the Corpus Christie Airport at 6am and we said our goodbyes for will be the longest separation on our nearly 20 years together.  Up to now 4 days has been the longest we have been apart.

This morning I am starting the second school week with the boys. It is a brave new world, this online learning. The school day is a six-hour blur of Zoom meetings, for everything from CORE learning to PE and Art. Using school provided Chromebooks to take pictures of paper-based assignments and post them to the online learning portal and of course keeping the kids engaged with all the distractions of home that don’t exist in the classroom.  Cat’s jumping in their lap, being within earshot of each other as they do different work on overlapping schedules. We have worked it out and all things considered it is going well.  As a grandparent I shudder when I think too hard about what all young parents are dealing with and get angry at the thought that daycare centers are aloud to be open, ignore mask recommendations and blatantly tell parents they may or may not see to it that the kids do their schoolwork, all the while charging a premium because they know parents are stuck. If a petri-dish, disgusting daycare center can get away with all that, why the hell can’t they hold classes at school? Like many things this year it makes absolutely no sense. In a selfish way though, I have thoroughly enjoyed my time here. It has been a once in a lifetime experience to be here and engage with the boys on the level I have. We are making memories and I know my presence here is helping, despite my heart that aches to be with Champ in Texas and knowing he is missing me as much as I miss him. I feel fortunate that we were able to offer the help.

Art Class on Zoom

In their home work stations

Birthday boy! 

I have taken advantage of my sequestered time here at my daughters to break away and spend a safe evening with my good friend Joyce and will get to spend my son’s birthday with his family later this week. I’ll see our oldest son as well before I head back to Texas in a few days. Each morning I walk the sidewalks in the neighborhood getting in my morning 5000 steps, I am bundled up against the mid 20-degree temps in one of my son-in-law’s coats that he is letting me wear during my stay. It’s a far cry from early morning 60’s in Texas, but invigorating!

What will undeniably be the most memorable moment of the trip was when I climbed into my daughter’s car at the airport. She had purposely not told the boys I was coming. Both were sleeping when she arrived at the curbside pickup lane. Isaac, the six-year-old woke up as I was getting in the car and asked how I got here. As we were talking about my trip on the plane, the birthday boy Hunter who is nine, woke up from a deep sleep and was clearly bewildered at my presence. He stared at me closed his eyes and reopened them as if to try to figure out if it was a dream. Then he asked, "Did we drive all the way to Texas?"  My daughter chuckled and said ‘no’, and I watched him try to process it with his sleepy eyes and his curled brow.  I finally told him I had flown to Iowa and was staying for a couple of weeks.  I laughed and he sat in the backseat trying to wake up and process the fact that Grandma had come to visit!  As long as I live, I’ll never forget the look on his face when he woke up and saw me in the front seat of the car. Those are good memories.

Champ is spending his days working on projects like modernizing his outdoor stereo. The cabinet is now home to a soundbar that is wired into the motorhome dash stereo that pipes Sirius XM outside. The antiquated Radio/CD player is in the dumpster.  He piddles as he calls it and I sit in Iowa wondering what little improvements he will have made in my absence. He tells me the cats are in mourning, not understanding where I went or that I will return. It’s a weird feeling to process that I am ‘home’ because I am currently in Iowa. But I am looking forward to going back ‘home’ meaning the motorhome where Champ is in Texas. In this life, Home is a very fluid concept!

Until Next Time…