2020 in Review

2020 was trash. I don't have much to say about it. I'm just thankful to be alive, housed, and fed.

Here's our Christmas card:

We didn’t have high hopes for 2020, and boy, it did not disappoint.

On Thanksgiving of last year, Adam’s daughter Alexis was diagnosed with leukemia. She spent December in the hospital hopped up on chemo and steroids. She puked a lot. She hallucinated spiders. It sucked. We were prepared for 2020 to suck.

I started a new job at indeed.com on March 2. After my second day on the job, they told us not to come back to the office, and I’ve been working from home since. I’ve adjusted just fine.

Once it became clear that COVID-19 was spreading in the US, we had to drastically change our habits. Alexis’ immune system was depleted from chemo, so a respiratory illness like COVID-19 (or even the flu) could, to put it bluntly, kill her. We stopped seeing friends. We stopped eating out. We only left the house to go to the chemo clinic or the grocery store. It sucked. Not as much as an 11-year-old dying though.

Since we’ve been stuck at home, we’ve turned to our back yard for entertainment: I started a garden, we fashioned a pool out of a stock tank in order to survive the Texas heat, and we built a rock-climbing wall. We climb every Friday night with Connor. We miss the climbing gym, but climbing at home isn’t half bad.

Alexis finished the most difficult part of her treatment and is slowly regaining her strength. All three kids are excited to eventually go back to school and to see their friends. Adam and I are ready to not see each other 24/7.

I wish this card had more Christmas cheer, but this was not a particularly cheerful year. Merry Christmas, I miss you all, and hope it’s safe to travel to be with family and friends soon.