Easter Resurrected

 We got the call from Jill late Saturday night. The plague had struck. Isaac was mildly sick with a cough and fever and tested positive for COVID. Now what?

Jill was in a quandary, as were we all. Do we cancel? Do we tell Jan to stay home, and have Tom and Jake and I do take out from Jill's kitchen? I knew she was going to be very disappointed  when she said, "But I already set the table?" Of course we both had been cooking and preparing and looking forward to being together and celebrating birthdays.

We hadn't decided when she said, "I'll call you back".  Then she and Isaac talked, at a distance. He had not been home much at all the days before. That day he had been confined to his room. They were wearing masks. They have a large added on room, their computer room,  with a separate heating system and good cross ventilation and Isaac had not been in that part of the house. Irene and Jill were just coming off of three months since they had been quarantined after testing positive. 

We talked again. Tom and I and Jan are all vaccinated and twice boosted. We feel protected from serious illness. Jake is once boosted. We could wear masks in the main part of the house, air out the  computer room over night, eat together separately, divided by the glass doors, with Isaac in his room, and then do much of the rest of the day outside, bundled up.

That's what we did. 

Easter morning was beautiful, with a clear blue sky and sun doing its best to warm up the chill air.

We could see each other at our separate tables through the French doors. Isaac connected with his mom and sister from his room via Facetime. The food was all delicious and the conversation was lively.

We sent Jake out to hide the eggs and then the egg hunt was on. We're all kids now at Easter since everyone is growing up.

Of course we had to count the eggs several times to see how many were still missing. Get this: Jill knew how many eggs of each color there were. Jake knew where to look when he knew what colors were still missing. For instance, I found a purple egg in a purple Azealia. Yes, we're kinda' strange that way.

Then we had to open the eggs and collect the loot.

Irene scored big. Most of us got candy.

We had fun in the sun and relaxed the rules a bit. Hopefully we will all be OK. 

Then it was birthday time. Irene was 17 on the 17th, which I learned is a "golden birthday".

We felt safe enough by now to have birthday pie together inside, with Isaac still banished inside of course. 

Happy birthday to Irene and Jake! 17 and 47.

And that's how we resurrected Easter, and birthdays. We all had a great time, felt grateful to be together, and grateful for the science that brings us vaccinations.

Now we'll see.