Praying I Can See My Family for the Holidays {My Christmas Wish}

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The pandemic has been rough for everyone! Many people have not been able to see family since March, which is exactly my case.

My parents came in March and headed back one day before they decided to close the borders between Canada and the USA. It’s now been 8 months since I’ve seen them, given them a hug, had dinner with them, watched a movie with them, went shopping with them, saw them hug and play with my kids; their nietos. It’s been tough.

family

It’s tough for me to hear about my friends who live here complain about how it’s been 3 weeks since they’ve seen their family.

It’s tough for me to hear my friends say, “I’m going to my parents for dinner and hang out with them this weekend.”

It’s tough for me to hear my friends say, “I’m dropping my kids off at my parents’ house/my parents are coming over to watch the kids because I need some time or because my husband and I have have not had a date in 1-2 months.”

I’m very happy and love hearing that you have family close by. It’s a beautiful thing and a big blessing.

I am happy for you and your family, but I’m missing mine.

It’s 384.9 miles from my driveway to my parent’s driveway in London, Ontario, about a 6-hour drive. I had just texted my friend from London, Ontario – “Ya… people in the U.S. just have the ‘I’m free to do what I want’ mentality and don’t care how it affects others… so here we are!” This mentality and upbringing is what has helped many become business owners and also encouraged more to stand up for what they personally believe in. All wonderful things, BUT right now – it’s just selfish. I know that not all are being careless and are actually taking this pandemic with serious caution and self-care.

I read this article about the border and it said; “Canadians are more cautious about this virus than Americans are. It’s a different attitude.” So I can only assume that the border will stay closed until the U.S. gets their COVID numbers under control… which may take awhile.

My “going out” includes:

  • Playing outside with kids and my neighbor with her kids.
  • Driving around.
  • Going to the library or Joseph-Beth Bookstore in Rookwood to do some work while kids are at school.
  • Grocery store on a rare occasion because I need to.
  • Going to one of my two friends’ houses. We try to stay outside and we wear masks as well or stay more than 6 feet apart.
  • When not busy, I have gone to First Watch to eat inside.
  • Carmax as I’m now looking to get a car since my car’s engine died. Yea, PERFECT timing!

THAT’S it. That’s all I do right now. I wish one of those things could be a road trip to see my family. We had the hopes of the borders being reopened on Nov. 22, 2020… but the Canadian Government doesn’t feel confident with the U.S.’s COVID numbers and has decided to extend the closuer until Dec. 21, 2020. But in reality, this may continue well into 2021.

My mom retired in July 2020, fully looking forward to coming here to help me for a couple of months. It’s all she was looking forward to. She has been longing to be with her grandbabies – to hug them, kiss them, play with them, cook for them, etc… but none of that is possible right now. She is so happy and thankful for video chat. I remind her that this will pass and we have the easy ability to call each other and video chat whenever we want. To remember how it was when she left Chile and the quickest and cheapest way to communicate was through letters. Calling long-distance was expensive and there was no way to video chat back then. Flying could happen once in a blue moon. So to look at the positive side.

On the other side, I’m feeling it, too.

I stay strong for my family, for my mom, especially, but I can’t wait to hug her and my dad. I know we’ll fight and they’ll get on my nerves but I would take that over anything else right now. Family is important and it’s important for my kids to have that relationship with them – that closeness, that bond, that trust, that love.

So my please, PLEASE wear your masks and practice social distancing. COVID is no hoax and fully real. Mask over your nose AND over your chin at the same time. Stop going places you DON’T need to go to.

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