After we got home from Mauritius at the end of February the coronavirus was starting to take hold in the western world. Things were starting to change as a result, but by that point things were relatively normal still and no one had any idea just how much and just how quickly things would actually change. By the time my planned trip to Utah to see Dallin rolled around things were getting a bit more tense. Some schools were starting to cancel and certain sectors were making adjustments, but still things were more or less normal. Except they weren't. Just a couple of hours before I left for the airport I learned my dear Aunt Bev had passed away. I was sort of expecting this, and I had already packed something suitable to wear to a funeral before word even reached me. I'm devastated that she is gone. There is no one like her, and she meant the world to me, never a more loving aunt and a best friend to my mom. Even though California was not in my original plan, and even though we were entering into a pandemic there was never a second thought that I would go to the funeral. Of course I would go; I'd have flown from London just for that. And as it turned out the timing of it all was really fortunate as even a week or two later, I'm not sure I'd have made it or even if such a funeral would be allowed as the world had begun locking down. I boarded my flight from London to Salt Lake City, which was virtually empty. I had never seen a plane so empty, maybe 15% full. This was the first sign that change was afoot. I waited for news about my Bev's service to reach me in flight, and began making changes to my travel plans while I was in the air (thank you onboard WiFi). When I landed I had to refocus my energy to seeing Dallin, not to mention stay awake to safely drive the three hours down to Ephraim from Salt Lake. It was a time for us to catch up and for us to work on some things together that were important, and I didn't want my aunt's passing or the rising tide of the pandemic to interfere. Honestly it was tough. I felt as though I was operating at red level RPMs the whole trip, and I'm grateful I was able to keep it together so I could attend to each task as well as I did, be there for Dallin, make the trip to be there for my family and the funeral, and then return to Utah with Dallin to refocus our efforts on all the plan Bs the pandemic had suddenly thrown the world into. And all the while Scott and the other kids were at home in a rapidly changing London, where school, work, church and other things were being shut down overnight. I came home to a very different London, nothing was the same. I look back on this trip and realise I was carried by something greater than myself. There is no other way to explain how well everything worked out in such a highly stressful environment where I was dealing with so much stress and difficult decision making on multiple fronts all at once. I am so grateful.
No comments:
Post a Comment