This was originally posted in April, 2020.
One of the unexpected changes in my life isn’t unique to most of you…I live in Illinois and am under a stay-at-home order due to Covid-19. Our short-lived status as empty nesters changed in one weekend! City daughter moved in because her tiny apartment isn’t set up for an extended work-from-home situation. College daughter’s spring break was cancelled and shortly thereafter, her university went to online classes for the rest of the semester. Both girls being home is the silver lining in this whole pandemic ordeal. For now, we are healthy and safe which is a relief.
Over the last three weeks, I finished my book for Book Club (The Girl with Seven Names: A North Korean Defector’s Story by Hyenseo Lee), read a new book my one of favorite authors (The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family and Defiance During the Blitz by Erik Larson) and indulged in an easy, captivating mystery (The Reckoningby John Grisham).
Then a friend suggested reading Laura Ingalls Wilder’s, The Long Winter, the 6th in her Little House on the Prairie series.
Growing up, I wanted to be Laura Ingalls – although I was actually more like Mary. I must have read her books at least 7 or 8 times each – maybe more. Every Monday night in the mid-1970s, my sisters and I would watch the TV adaptation, Little House on the Prairie. I think I have always loved historic novels and movies – imagining what it would be like to live in another time.
After re-reading The Long Winter, I found myself feeling grateful. I am not cold or uncomfortable in my home. I am not hungry. I have a lot of different ways to entertain myself. I don’t have twist hay to make a fire or worry about my husband getting lost in a blizzard when he goes to work.
I noticed that initially, Laura wasn’t looking forward to moving to town. She “knew she would not like to live among so many people.” But after making friends at school, she began to miss their company. Laura couldn’t see her friends during her ‘shelter-in-place’ but we can. I am so grateful for technology that allows for Zoom Happy Hours, virtual family birthday celebrations and endless text chains with friends. In fact, I think this situation has given us all new ways to connect with people far from us even after our freedom to move around returns. Why haven’t my college friends & I been using Zoom until now? You can bet we will continue!
Keeping those connections is keeping me sane. I am lucky to have three people in my house and am conscious that not everyone is that lucky. Everyone in my family feels some empathy for Laura when she gets sad and snippy. At her saddest, she describes herself as “tired of the cold and dark, tired of brown bread and potatoes…” In our house, each of us gets ‘tired’ of our situation at different times (luckily not all at once). We are all basically introverts, so we take turns finding time to ourselves: solo bike rides or walks, sequestering in our rooms or hiding in the basement. Ultimately, we all come back together for dinner, a game or a TV show.
Projects gave their small world a sense of normalcy. They continue learning even if they can’t go to school. Laura, Ma and Mary all have sewing projects they can do (if there is enough light) each day that they enjoy. Laura cross-stitches a picture frame and gives it to Carrie for Christmas. Finding projects in our home helps gives us purpose. I am lucky to have to option not to work outside my home. Normally, I have a lot of volunteer work and other activities that give me a sense of purpose. For reasons I’ll go into in other posts, I am in between significant volunteer commitments so my time is more my own. So what to do now? I can only clean out drawers & closets so much. Luckily, I can sew a straight line & own a sewing machine. So I have been busy making cloth masks for local healthcare organizations and a few friends. I found a project.
If I were to retitle this post I would use the word grateful. After reading The Long Winter, I am so grateful that I can share this time with my family, that I am generally safe and comfortable and that I have constructive ways to be useful to others. And I know that our long winter will come to end.
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