[Adventure 1]
We have a New Year's Eve tradition in our family - sharing memories of the past year. Throughout the year, we put bits and pieces of memories in a jar - movie ticket stubs, playbill covers, slips of paper with amusing things people said or did, fabric from costumes worn, perhaps a napkin or coaster from a restaurant or two.
A friend, knowing of this tradition, asked if we were still doing it this New Year's Eve. I'm not sure they were expecting my exuberant response to the affirmative. Of course we were! We made so many wonderful memories - had such a busy year!
But, quarantine! How can one have a jar full of good memories in a year comprised mostly of quarantine? From a year with so much misery and fear and despair?
During Quarantide, we were not just existing, we were living. My husband continued to work. We continued learning and exploring and doing and growing and helping. We went on hikes. We began playing Dungeons and Dragon as a family. I learned new video editing skills and how to play the ukulele. The Steyer Choir (two of my children and I) recorded about one hundred songs for worship at our church. We went to Camp Calumet twice during the Summer and once in the Autumn. We had socially distanced meet-ups with friends. One child went to online Arts camp. Some children did online paint nights. We met with church family online for @ your table and bible studies and Sunday morning livestreams. I painted many, many signs and ornaments. We repainted and updated our bathroom. I hung art and photographs painted and taken by our family all around our house. We helped start a food ministry at our church. We got a Christmas tree for the first time in years. We raised money for Camp Calumet through the Reach the Beach Walking Challenge, RTB 2.0, and Run4Camp. We explored the Rails to Trails in our area on foot and via wheelchair. We went to Michael Franti & Spearhead and Straight No Chaser concerts online. We watched the Nutcracker, Rocky Horror Picture Show Musical Livestream, Wenceslas, Kinky Boots, A Christmas Carol, and other theatrical performances online. We recorded fun videos for church, including The Strangest Christmas Pageant Ever and Where's the Sermon? I edited worship videos for Holy Week, every Sunday beginning March 22nd, and Christmas Eve. We had all sorts of medical appointments, one child became part of a medical study, and we learned to navigate a combination of telemedicine and in-person appointments. We surprised my parents with a visit from my sister and her children during the Summer and spent a wonderful, safe Christmas Day together with my parents and my sister's family, complete with a slideshow walk down memory lane. We played old games and new during family game nights. We indulged in grocery delivery and the occasional take-out delivery.
We discovered that a combination of self-care, family time, and doing for others provided for a year filled with enough growth, laughter, and gratitude to balance out the worry, fear, and sadness. And that we have a choice. We can remember 2020 as a year of struggling to stay safe and (relatively) healthy and to find toilet paper and hand sanitizer; a year of missing family and friends; a year of not being able to do things. Or we can remember 2020 as a year that both sucked due to a global pandemic, but that also gifted us time together to sort out our priorities, figure out what's truly important in life, and to learn to live life to the fullest despite the limitations of life in quarantine. 
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