I guess most of us are in the same boat these days... spending most of our time at home, learning how to do our jobs without flying all over the country or commuting to the office each day, stretching out the groceries, getting out for a walk and watching the Tiger King on Netflix.  Pretty standard stuff.  Not bad for now but thirty more days?  Ugh!

 

One thing that’s been a blessing throughout this is getting to spend more time with Brooke and Sam, who is home from college.  We miss Christine and JJ, but are happy knowing they’re together in Austin, and have each other.   It’s like no other time in our lives, so we hope everyone takes advantage of the gift we’ve all been given to spend more time with family, despite the circumstances.

 

Brooke continues her long climb back to a healthy life.  She has daily struggles with things like her eyes, but the setback she had in February seems to have subsided and was, thankfully, met quickly with the right treatment.  She has been at home with us after a brief return to work at DePaul Hospital.  Given the health crisis and her potentially vulnerable state, her doctors are adamant that she not be in a hospital right now. 

 

We think about that every day.  How things have changed so radically in this country and around the world.  A few weeks ago it looked like Brooke would be back at work and that would be another step toward a normal life.  DePaul and all of her colleagues have been extremely supportive of Brooke’s situation.  We constantly think about the staff there, at Mercy Hospital and at hospitals and makeshift triage centers everywhere.  We think of our dear friends Debbie and Emily, nurses in St. Louis and Baltimore.  We think of the doctors and caregivers who, despite this epic challenge, are on the frontline helping people in need.  Heroic, every one one of them.

 

We remain thankful for what we have, hopeful that things will eventually improve, and prayerful that those who are called upon to fight in the trenches are safe, so that they too can be with their families.  The amazing and unrelenting doctors, nurses, EMTs, hospital staff and everyone else providing care to people in need are who we think about most at this time.