My living situation has changed many times throughout the pandemic. When it all started, I was the only one of my siblings at home with my parents. My sister was in her junior year of college, and my brother had just finished studying [in] Boulder. I remember the day before spring break started, my school decided to have a day off to decide what would happen if the pandemic progressed in United States. My senior exchange trip to Spain had just been cancelled and I was feeling a bit bored. I remember that Monday we got news that both my sister and cousin's schools had been cancelled. .... It was very interesting to go from being the only child at home to having to share it with my sister and my cousin. While my cousin and I have always gotten along really well, we had never spent so much time together. It turns out, while me and my cousin get along well, we do not always get along so well with my sister (as we are both a bit more messy and disorganized, and she is a person who very much likes control, any control), so that created a very interesting dynamic within the house. We made it through it though and have lots of fond memories. My living situation changed once again when I started my first year of college. ... this was the first time in a really long time that I had to share a room. I was so nervous about that, but my roommate and I clicked from day one. She became my closest confidant, she was the only person I had trusted to tell about my decision to apply to different school, as we had other previous conversations in which we talked about all the reasons we were unhappy and exactly how much we want to transfer (though we were being quite dramatic). Our room ended up being a really happy place for me. We had LED lights that went all around the room and they could change to any color we wanted. We also had Christmas lights up all year round which made it super cozy. Our room had a light pink and light yellow theme that reminded me of the desert, so when I saw this awesome cactus light (picture above) I knew it would be the perfect addition to our room. While for all of December we were at home, we decided to decorate our room early for Christmas to help us push through the last bit of November. I decided to decorate the cactus light with more tiny Christmas lights and I remember having such a good laugh about it as we listened to some Christmas music one night. My living situation changed one more time when I transferred. This year I am living in a single room, which wasn't my first choice. I am a people person and I really like being around other people, so I was hoping for a roommate. However, I will say, after living in a house full of people, and sharing a college dorm the size of a shoebox, it is nice to have my own space.
October 19, 2021
Happy Hanukkah ! NOTE:The photograph is on its side. The first try, upside down. I reversed the photograph on my phone but it was still upside down when uploaded. In any case, Chag Sameach ! The word “hanukkah” means “dedication” in Hebrew. We dedicate yhis sacred time each evening to praise God and express our gratitude for life. For decades we used a smaller, lovely menorah hand crafted in silver by annIsraeli artist. A few years ago, we discovered this ceramic menorah and ever since that day, we look forward to the upturned, expressive faces on this ceramic menorah. Some faces are in awe, others disrracted, a few serenely pleased in the reflected light that grows brighter each of eight nights. It is a quiet time post sunset as my husband listens while I chant the prayer “Baruch ata.....” followed by a shared kiss. In he candle light within the silent space, we pray for a release from this pandemic. The vaccine has arrived here in Connecticut. We pray for those families with grievous losses this year, some as thec result of Covid, others with losses less closely related to the virus but who suffer the social distancing imposed. We grieve online, on zoom, via emails, streaming yet our tears are real, they stream down our faces. The light reassures is there is hope. Our arms will wrap about our loved ones soon, the vaccine has arrived.
December 16, 2020