I suppose as a nurse blogger you are expecting me to write about the virus… here’s the thing, I actually consider myself a “positivity blogger”! Sure, I can urge you to stay home, social distance, and include some graphs or that wonderful animation of the matchstick stepping out of the way just in time to stop the spread of the fire, but I won’t. Every person and their aunty’s uncle’s cousin’s dog’s neighbor have been posting meme after post after share about CoVID19.
Instead, let’s focus on something else!
My cousin got married the other day!! A large amount of my family were able to go, including myself. We all traveled to Texas right before the virus was deemed a pandemic by the World Health Organization and went home pretty close to after the wedding before major cities started planning their shelter in place. Sure the timing could have been better but if that wedding were any later, I would bet that it would have been postponed and lots of flights and travel plans may have been cancelled. If the wedding were any later, I wouldn’t have been able to see the look of happiness on my cousin Derec’s face as his bride walked down the aisle in her white, sparkly cowgirl boots and beautiful, poofy wedding dress.
The wedding was absolutely lovely! Teresa Ann basically organized it all with the help of her community, and I am so happy that I got to meet her and her family. Also happy I could contribute some artistic skills too. She seemed to fit right in with the shenanigans of our family, and we are definitely a weird lot! Hahaha. The weekend was full of card games and spending time with family you don’t get to see a lot. I was so happy that we could support them like that. Talk about a nice way to spend a few days.
Have you ever heard of cribbage? It was invented a long time ago by a British poet who sounds like he was a gambler and a drunkard! … of course I just made up the part about being a drunkard. There is counting, pegging, math, flushes and a right jack. Basically whenever I teach this game to a newbie, I start it off with, “There are a lot of interesting rules that don’t make much sense, but don’t worry, you’ll like it!” I’ve been playing this game for twenty plus years and I was challenging people who have been playing it for longer = my family. Needless to say, some coarse words may have been spoken and some “lightening bolts” may have shot from people’s fingers at other teams, just like my Aunty Pat used to do.
We also got to go visit the gravesite of my Aunt. I don’t think anyone realized how emotional that was going to be. All of her siblings had come together once again to celebrate her son’s wedding, and then all of her siblings stood together to greet her at her resting place. Derec’s new wife wanted to put her wedding bouquet there. That really touched me that she wanted to leave something of the wedding there for Aunty Pat. For once in my life, I can’t quite seem to find the words eloquent enough to describe how perfect that was.
Despite the looming CoVID19, I needed to take a moment to share how nice it was to see my family again for the weekend. This is a time where we need to band together! Even during our social isolation, we need to remember how important our families are too. Not just blood relatives, but our chosen families as well. Reach out to people, check on them. I was privileged to enjoy a Zoom conference call with some of my buddies from University of Hawaii that I haven’t seen in years today. I’ve got a “happy hour” planned over Zoom with two friends this weekend so we can catch up. Just remember how important these people are, especially in this uncertain time.
And for goodness sakes, WASH YOUR HANDS!
Mar Tells Mini Tales 