With the holidays over, I feel like I survived a tsunami. Okay, not really that is a bit dramatic. In December, my friend sent me a meme that made my day. “I’m just saying that Santa gets all the credit, but you just know that Mrs. Clause is losing her ever-loving mind to get things done and is probably threatening to cancel Christmas.” It still makes me laugh, and it’s February. I tend to run on the laid back side; however, nobody can keep it together 100% of the time.
Living in Minnesota put us literally in the middle of nowhere. At least that’s how I feel right now. We moved here in the middle of the COVID pandemic, so meeting people has been next to impossible. Like many other parents, I was struggling to complete distance learning with a very active 1 ½-year-old. Let me elaborate on active. He uses the handles on the cabinet drawers to climb onto the counter and then jump down. He thinks it’s fun. I can see it in my future, I walk into the house, and he’s hanging from the ceiling fan yelling, “Swiiiiiing,” with a smile on his face laughing those good ol’ belly laughs.
Like many, we were desperate to be around family for the holidays. Against the advice of many professionals, and contrary to popular opinion, we traveled during the holidays. We were blessed to have a company volunteer to fly us straight from Minnesota to Texas. But… we had no idea how we were going to get back. I was considering staying down there longer so I could have some help for the reasons stated above, including the mental health of both my children and myself.
All of these things were happening while my veteran was working out of town. He is currently completing a fellowship program at the Mayo Clinic. He often works 12- hour shifts, multiple days in a row. Many people do this all over the country, all the time. However, if he hasn’t slept, it doesn’t matter. If he’s in pain, it doesn’t matter. Time waits for no one; the world doesn’t stop spinning. I often find myself scrambling to fill in the cracks that are trying to break the foundation we are trying to build. I guess that’s life, right? I think this year has people feeling similar on a global scale. The whole world is feeling some of the chaos, isolation, and new normal that many of our wounded veterans and families are all too familiar with.
~Joanie, Veteran caregiver & HTH Representative
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