Simplified Way to Coordinate Swimming Laps

Posted on March 23, 2023 by Theresa Falzarano

This year I made a New Year’s resolution to finally learn how to swim laps.  I have tried to learn in past years but have failed terribly.  I just couldn’t seem to get coordinated enough to make it down the pool lane and back without gasping for air mid-way through.  This time I took a different approach, and it has made all the difference.  

Here are my top tips:

  • Invest in a good pair of goggles

In my past attempts to swim laps some of my issues were the result of my goggles not fitting properly.  They were either too tight causing painful red rings around my eyes that would linger for hours after or they were too lose resulting in water filling up inside them.  While watching a rerun of the Shark Tank one evening I learned about a company called The Magic 5 that specializes in making custom swimming goggles.  The process entails mapping your face with your smartphone for a perfect fit.  Some custom swimming goggles can be quite costly, so I was thrilled to find these at a relatively reasonable price!   

  • Find a good time of day

It is important to choose a time of day when the pool is not very busy, otherwise you will need to share a lane.  This is fine for more experienced swimmers but if you are just starting out it can be challenging to manage sharing a lane and maintaining your form in such a small space.  I am getting more used to sharing the lane now but, in the beginning, let’s just say that I may have crashed into a couple of pool walls…ouch!  My preferred time is 8:00pm after kids have finished their homework and are ready for bed.

  • Talk with fellow swimmers and reference YouTube when needed

My biggest challenge was that I could not figure out how to coordinate my breathing and my arm strokes.  After speaking with a fellow swimmer one evening about how she swims “like a fish”, I reviewed a few instructional videos on YouTube and a light bulb came on!  I figured out that I was holding my breadth while in the water which was causing me to gasp for air and completely throwing off my buoyancy.  After making some minor tweaks to my breathing I was able to complete a full lap and can now swim down and back a few times with some much-needed rest time throughout.  I can’t say that I swim “like a fish” yet but with some more practice I will get there.  In hindsight, taking a swim class would have helped me learn this sooner so I would highly recommend that, too.

  • Be patient with yourself

This experience has further reinforced for me that patience, perseverance, and flexibility is key to learning any new skill.  For a long time, I thought that swimming laps was something that I would never learn because I did not have the coordination to get it right.  With the right mindset and the simplified approach of starting small and building upon what you already know, anything is possible!

    

Posted in Accomplishments, Fun, Learning, Motivation, Planning, Work Life Balance | Comments Off on Simplified Way to Coordinate Swimming Laps

At Least it’s a Start 

Posted on March 16, 2023 by Agnes Chojnowska

It’s my turn to write a blog post again and I have another case of writer’s block. I started writing a couple different topics but couldn’t get more than a handful of sentences written – they all sounded too forced. To help I would take a break, work on something else and come back. I tried outlining, writing whatever came to mind, and listening to music. In the end, stepping away from the computer and clearing my mind seemed to help me most. What helps you when you’re blocked? 

Below is what I have so far, it’s really just the beginning. Perhaps I’ll go back to it, expand it, and make it into an article for the newsletter. At least it’s a start and that’s okay sometimes too. 

—– 

This past month we held the first in person Epic class since the pandemic started. Our team has been preparing to move the clinical courses back to the classroom for the last couple months, and we were very excited to finally be back in person. It felt like a return to normal.  

Posted in Motivation | 1 Comment

If It Ain’t Broke

Posted on February 21, 2023 by Deb Cote

My husband and I were driving on the highway in our 2007 Ford Sport Trac.
“Do you hear that?” he asked.
A moment later, I heard an unsettling sound coming from the truck. We were 90 minutes into a 120-minute trek with a full load.
“That doesn’t sound good,” I answered.
“It only happens when I step on the gas.”
I refrained from replying, “Then don’t do that.”
I heard it again and fully expected flames to come shooting out the back.

So starts the conversation we’ve had many times. Should we get a new truck? We love the Sport Trac. We bought it new and it’s the longest we’ve ever owned a vehicle. It’s a unique mix of a 4-door Ford Explorer SUV and a pickup truck with a shorter bed. Ford doesn’t make them anymore. We justify keeping it with finance logic: Long past car payments, even large repairs cost less than a new or reliable used vehicle. My husband likes the features. I know exactly how large a parking spot I can fit into. It’s already registered for all our parking permits.
We don’t want to change.

Change is rarely easy. It takes time. It requires effort. Change relies on trust.

Most people shy away from change – ranging from being slightly uncomfortable to downright frightened – even if it’s a positive change. We are afraid of losing control of something or someone with whom we’ve attained a level of comfort.

This phobia is called metathesiophobia. Most people suffer from the fear of change at some point. It’s normal. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try to reduce how much or how often we experience it, especially when the fear stops you from moving forward in life.

“You never change your life until you step out of your comfort zone; change begins at the end of your comfort zone,” wrote author Roy T. Bennett.

A common retort for resisting change is, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
True. But you’re not fixing. You’re improving.
Positive change is going from the current state to an improved future state.

You can try one of many tactics to overcome your resistance to change. One way: start small. Making small changes can give you the confidence to make more or larger changes.

Order something different than your go-to dish at your favorite restaurant.
Drive a new way home.
Ask your manager for a different assignment than usual.
Wear a color not in your daily palette.
Watch a TV show, see a movie, or read a book that you’d never choose.
If you vacation in the same place, consider someplace new – even if just a different hotel.
Exchange a few pleasantries with someone you don’t know at a social or work event.

Did you survive without a panic attack, a reality of many who are paralyzed by the mere thought of change? If yes, give yourself credit for stepping outside of your comfort zone.

Give yourself time before taking another step, but trust the process.
Besides opening yourself up to new things that may lead to unique experiences, you’re strengthening your comfort with change. And doing it on your terms.

My best friend just started a new job where she knows no one. She has a lot of anxiety. She wanted to quit the first week, but she’s still there three weeks later. I know her fear is real, but I was surprised at her visceral dread of starting a new job. I reminded her of the enormous step she took years ago with three school age children to leave an unhealthy marriage and consequently had to get a job after years of not working outside the home. This recent change is comparatively minor. She admitted she hadn’t thought about that personal feat.

Remind yourself of past changes that have impacted your life positively. We don’t give ourselves nearly enough credit.

My vehicle change isn’t life altering. But it certainly could make us safer since in this case, it might be broke.😉 I am warming to the change, looking at options as a first step before the change is forced on us.

Posted in Accomplishments, Change management, Learning, Motivation | 2 Comments

Where’s Dad? Part II

Posted on February 6, 2023 by Janet Dougherty

This is the next (hopefully final) chapter of the story that was begun in my last blog.

To recap: My father passed away of dementia in February 2019 at the age of 93. His end-of-life wishes were to donate his body to medical research and then be cremated and his ashes returned to us so we could spread them at locations important to him.

On the day of his death in 2019 my father’s body was transported to a Boston area medical school/hospital where the plan was that he would be worked on for about 15 months and then cremated and then we would be notified that we could have him returned. The end of the 15-month timeframe coincided with the onset of Covid; unsurprisingly, we did not hear anything about my father’s remains as a result of hospitals being overwhelmed with the chaos of COVID.

Earlier this month my mother mentioned that her one goal for 2023 was to find my father’s remains. Some of my siblings had unsuccessfully called and emailed the body donation program previously but we had learned nothing more about my father’s current location. I offered to track him down for her. Using the contact information she provided I emailed the person in charge of the body donation program. He called me later that day!

Rob, the body donation program manager, assured me that my father’s cremains were locked in a vault in his office. That was reassuring!  We made arrangements to have Rob drop off the cremains at my house. On the designated drop-off day Rob showed up and handed me a surprisingly small box.  He mentioned at least three times that “he was great for us!”. I was happy that my father was well-behaved for all this time and, more importantly, that his body made a contribution to medical science. 

The outside of the box showed that the body had been cremated in January 2020 so I can only imagine that the pandemic was instrumental in causing the delay in getting the remains back to us.  Another unintended consequence of COVID.

We have him back now and he is safely with my mother at her place until we have a family celebration to complete his final wishes. She reminded me that she is also planning to donate her body to medicine through the same program my father used. At least I now have the phone number of the person in charge so she doesn’t linger in a vault in an office for 3 years!

As my father would say, “All’s well that ends well”!

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Now It Makes Sense! – What the Green Monster Taught Me About Risk Management

Posted on January 25, 2023 by Sandra Cadogan-Beebe

We decided recently to sell our home. Not quite sure if we had missed the buying and selling craze of this past year where both home inventory and interest rates were still low and prices were climbing sky high, we called our realtors and invited them to a chat. They had been over a couple years ago but at that point we backed off. This time, we liked what they had to say and agreed on both deciding to list and on setting what looked like a good offering price. Before they left, the open house weekend was tentatively planned for a couple weeks away. We had some work to do to get ready!

The realtors returned to finalize the plan, sign the listing agreement, and take listing photographs. During the in-between week there was discussion about the outdatedness of our ensuite primary bath. It was outdated when we moved in over nine years prior and still was. Outdated is being very kind. Hideous is a more appropriate word. To each their own, of course, but this bath has never been on my “I like” list. Imagine hundreds of square feet of 1990 hunter green 2” square and hunter green 1” octagonal tiles, EVERYWHERE, including in the shower that could easily accommodate a kid’s hockey team. Spacious and hideous. We had learned over time to affectionately refer to it as The Green Monster but I had less love and more hate for this space in my otherwise well-loved home.

The realtors made a slight – maybe huge – mistake of mentioning that a little touch up of The Green Monster could help us fetch an offer close to asking but on the other hand, maybe don’t bother because “you have a great house, people are shopping for location and the myriad possibilities your house has to offer, yada yada yada.”

To me, “a little touch up” for this big old eyesore feels like sticking some duct tape on a totaled car. At this point in the meeting my wife is seeing dollar signs, bidding wars, and over-ask offers and is hearing “don’t do a thing” to the G.M. Concurrently, in my head I am building supplies purchase lists and estimating work hours so we can give this space a solid makeover, terrified we’ll get a bunch of low ball offers if we instead do nothing. Work that, if commissioned, needs to be entirely complete within 5 calendar days for the Open House. Oh, and there is only one partially available resource to do this work, during evening and night hours. What on Earth am I thinking?!

My wife and the Realtors all used worse phraseology than “what on Earth are you thinking.” There might have been even more harsh words but I’m not sure. I spotted a few icy glaring stares pointed at me. Yet, I remained undeterred and resolute. I love a challenge and I do enjoy home improvement tasks. So, I somehow managed to get everyone on board enough to kick off the project. Alone. They all wanted NOTHING to do this. They were not onboard and readying the “I told you so” speeches. This is NOT a good way to manage these key stakeholders and there could be some pain coming from this quick and dirty plan. But the wife wants top dollar, so onward I go!

At this point where I’m sharing with you, a little gloating lingers. Thankfully I’m the one gloating and not anyone else, because we would know how this ends! I’m happy to say the story ends well. By the Open House there was no longer a Green Monster within these four walls. Our home sold within two days, everyone was thrilled, a sweet young newlywed couple had found their dream home and we embarked on the next chapter of our lives.

Oh, but those five days were painful, very painful, and terrifying. Seemingly impossible at least once every single one of the five days. I used up every single day, down to the wire. And yes, it was always around one o’clock in the morning where possibly insurmountable issues would arise. And no project team members with whom to troubleshoot and mitigate. I asked myself so many times, what the heck were you thinking?! And I panicked, and I was certain I would be getting divorced very quickly over this project. That’s how serious some of the issues that cropped up appeared to be at various points in time.

In the excitement of the moment where I first committed to makeover the bathroom, I did not take even a few moments to fully appreciate the risks. This is a not a new home. When you start tearing things apart it’s very important to expect the unexpected and plan for it. Instead, I jumped off the deep end and didn’t analyze the risk and therefore did not have mitigation or contingency built in. The Open House was going to happen, regardless.

When a couple of seemingly major issues showed up, in the middle of the work, I was already at the point of no return. There was no option to fall back to pre-refresh state. If I could not resolve to satisfaction these issues, I was dead in the water. We would never get a good offer, and we would have lost untold amounts of money in any offer we would receive. Maybe we couldn’t even get to market and would have to delay the Open House.

Why am I telling this story? Risk planning matters. Hence this blog’s title – now it makes sense in real terms to me! All that stress and terror could have been avoided if I had made sure to understand what I could be up against and understand in advance to the best of my ability what my options would be if – no, when – issues occurred. Such an exercise might have justifiably prevented me from undertaking the project all together if I realized before demo that the total risk was just too great.

Starting the makeover:

After the makeover:


Maybe a buyer would have loved the house with the Green Monster as-is – probably not, but maybe – and I could have left it all well and good. For that we’ll never know. But I sure did learn my lesson on this one! I think I would enjoy doing it all again if given the opportunity. But I’d be sure to do a lot more upfront planning. Risk planning won’t prevent most of the issues that might arise, but at least I’ll have plans to deal with it.

Now, moving on to sort out my packing and moving plan…

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30 Before 30

Posted on January 12, 2023 by Bridget McLaughlin

Each year I look forward to the beginning of January. Although that signals the end of the holiday season/the best time of the year, it is a fresh start and a way to pick myself up, set new goals and strive to complete something new. The year 2023 is not only bringing new opportunities but it will also be my last year in my 20’s. I am excited about that milestone and decided to switch up the usual new year’s resolutions list. I will write down 30 things I would like to experience or try out this next year and will do my best to complete as many as possible.  

  1. Complete a 30-day Pilates challenge
  2. Read two books each month from different genres
  3. Learn how to bake a delicious chocolate cake
  4. Buy baking tools
  5. Travel, again, finally!!!
  6. Spend a weekend in a state I have not yet been to
  7. Buy the pair of expensive boots that have been sitting in my cart for 2+ years
  8. Spend time individually with each of my family and friends
  9. Hike in a National Park
  10. Start a new project at work outside of my normal role
  11. Unplug for an entire day each month – looking forward to this one (it will also help with #2)
  12. Try a new cuisine – any suggestions?
  13. Go to a restaurant opening in Boston
  14. Eat out solo – why does this seem so frightening?
  15. Take a class to learn a new skill
  16. Read the newspaper
  17. Learn how to make a roast chicken
  18. Start studying Spanish, again
  19. Host a dinner party
  20. Invest in a timeless, quality handbag
  21. Get a massage at a fancy spa in the city
  22. Try meditation
  23. Watch a Liverpool FC game at Phoenix Landing
  24. Volunteer
  25. Take more pictures when I’m doing fun activities
  26. Skydiving – I feel this this needs to be on the list, and it doesn’t intimidate me as much as bungee jumping
  27. Listen to new artists/attend concerts – I love live music!
  28. Donate my old things – Donating clothes/items I no longer use always feels refreshing
  29. Conquer a fear
  30. Enjoy my last year in my 20’s
Posted in Fun | 3 Comments

A Light Bulb Moment

Posted on December 27, 2022 by Paul Corbosiero

We see it in movies, cartoons, books, and sometimes with other people, but I am here to say, “light bulb” moments happen. I wouldn’t go as far to say it was an epiphany. This was more a complete change in mindset.


Over the last 5 years I battled some demons of comparing myself to others. I blame myself for reading too many stories on LinkedIn and YouTube influencers who quit their job and “followed their dream”.


A few months ago, that all ended.


I wasn’t comparing myself to older or younger people, just people my age. I felt so many had “more success” than me. This wasn’t jealousy. This felt like failure. Almost like in school where everyone moved on to the next grade, but I was kept back (for the record, that never happened to me, it’s just the best analogy I could think of).


I compared where I was in my career to people I went to college with, to close friends, and former co-workers. Some started their own companies, while others moved up the proverbial corporate ladder and now had executive titles with high six-figure and even a few seven-figure salaries, (not to mention the huge bonuses on top of it). Some reinvented themselves and became doctors (MDs and/or PhDs) or moved to Europe to start fresh. So where did I go wrong? What steps did I miss?


October of 2021 my opportunity came out of the blue when a recruiter from Colorado pitched me a Senior Director role for a medical service organization, with a promising path to becoming a Vice President within a year of joining the company. I wasn’t looking for a new position but felt like this was my chance. It was my shot! How could I pass this up? Finally, I would have the title, the compensation, the feeling of success, and the feeling I was on par or close to par with others my age who I deemed successful.


Fast forward to August of 2022. I ended up leaving that company still a Senior Director. Not only was I bored and unchallenged, but I was also strung along being told, “The promotion will come eventually”. After I gave my notice, the CIO of the company called me twice to get me to come back, with the guaranteed offer of the VP title and a significant bump in my salary; and for a day, I thought about it. I texted him back and said thank you, but no.


So, what changed? I thought about why I joined, and left the company, and if more money and a title like Vice President would make me happy. Then I began thinking about the people I was comparing myself to. I realized I didn’t care what their job title was, or if they could easily afford a new Model S Tesla, or if they owned a 3900 square foot house with a 4-car garage. And if I didn’t really care about what they had, why would they care about my job title, or what I had? They wouldn’t!


They might say, “Congratulations on the promotion” or, “Beautiful home” or “Wow, nice car!”, but 2 seconds later, they would move on with their day and not give it a second thought.
This was my light bulb moment – that no one would care. It felt like 10,000 pounds was lifted off my chest and my mind. I had brought this on myself. In the past I felt like I had failed to keep pace, but the feeling vanished in an instant.


Now, I measure success in job satisfaction, staying healthy, time with my family, my kids and my wife, knowing that I contribute to the greater society in a meaningful and purposeful way (and teach my kids to grow and do the same). I feel privileged to wake up in the morning excited about my job, and the people I get to work with. When I go to bed, I don’t have stress created from a bad job or work environment, or that I’m not keeping up with the Joneses.


I no longer compare, and it’s relieved me of a lot of anxiety and questioning. I feel liberated. I’ve been reading and hearing about this for years. Speakers from Ted Talks or psychologists who tell us not to compare because it’s toxic. Or posts on social media reminding us that our health and happiness are more important than money and a job that keeps us away from our family and special moments. Or “success” is how you define it. For some reason I ignored these messages.


I’ll end with this. I’m not one for complacency. I want to be promoted, and take on greater responsibility and challenges, but for the right reasons. Not for money or prestige, but so I can lead and create positive change that benefits the community and our mission, and not just me.

Posted in Learning, Work Life Balance | 1 Comment

The Moment Before You Fall

Posted on December 16, 2022 by Dimitri Makrigiorgos

There are a few types of rock climbing – the one most people probably first think of when picturing rock climbing is called “top-roping”. You are attached to a rope with a harness and climbing up a very tall wall. I have recently gotten into another type of rock climbing, which is called bouldering. While bouldering, you don’t have a harness and are not secured in any way. You climb shorter routes that usually only extend to 10-15 feet, close enough to the ground that you can safely drop when you reach the top (onto a soft mat).

I think rock climbing has been growing in popularity around the nation, and this is certainly the case in my social circle. I got into it because of my friends; most of them got memberships at Central Rock Gym (CRG), a company that has multiple climbing gyms throughout Boston – they just opened one up across the street from 20 Overland Street. I went a few times for fun and got hooked, so I got a membership as well.

I really enjoy bouldering, but I wasn’t sure why I found it so fun. I typically like to start new activities, though I can get bored quickly – but something about bouldering kept me going back three times a week, and I haven’t tired of it yet. When I thought more about why I was so addicted to it, I concluded that it was the adrenaline rush from the moment before you fall.

When you’re bouldering, there are two ways you can fall. The first is the “bad” type – you’re trying to grab a hold on the wall that is difficult to reach, and you slip and lose your grip. The second is the “good” type – you successfully reach the end of the route, and you release your hold on the wall.

Both moments have a certain addiction and adrenaline associated with them, and I think this is really what hooks me. When you slip, you feel a moment of irritation (usually you can tell a second before you’re going to fall). This is followed by the falling, where you do your best to land safely and minimize any injury, and then a rush of frustration and annoyance, and usually a desire to try again and figure out how to move past the section that you just failed on the route. When you reach the end of a route successfully, just before you let go, you get a rush of exultation and achievement, as all the hard work you put in has paid off, and any previous failures have been overcome. You then drop to the floor and revel in your accomplishments (or just try another route if you’re not one for reveling).

That moment before you fall is highly addicting, especially when you’ve succeeded. Dropping down after completing a route and feeling such a sense of accomplishment – I think this feeling is what keeps me coming back over and over, and upon further examination, I’ve realized there’s a similarity between this and my job, which might explain why I like managing projects so much:

  1. While bouldering, you spend most of your time not actually climbing – you sit on the mat and examine the route. You plan out where you’re going to put your feet and hands and identify the areas that look the most challenging. This is similar to planning in a project – identifying all of the work in the project, and then identifying any risks that you can see.
  2. Then, you put your plan into action. You begin to climb the route. Usually, unless it’s a very easy route, you won’t succeed the first time. You might get past some of the initial steps in the route, but you’ll generally fall once you get to a hard part. You then sit on the mat again and re-examine: what went wrong? What can you do better next time to get past that part? In a project, you might consider this your pilot: you’ve created a plan, you run it on a pilot group to determine if it works. Sometimes, it works well, but generally, you hit some roadblocks and update your plan based on feedback, to prepare for your go-live.
  3. Finally, the go-live: You’ve climbed your route a few times, fallen a few times and you’re pretty confident you know how to navigate the terrain now. You’re ready to give it a shot and are hoping to succeed. You begin your climb, and hopefully, all goes well, and you reach the top – you feel a sense of achievement as all the work and planning you’ve put in comes to fruition, very similar to how a successful go-live will feel in a project.

Through this self-reflection, I’ve realized that I tend to get hooked on these sort of high-intensity interval activities – ones with peaks and valleys rather than activities that have a more consistent tempo, like a long-distance run. What “moments before you fall” do you all experience in your lives? Do you seek out activities that have these rushes of adrenaline, or are the ups and downs not your style – do you prefer activities that are more consistent?

Posted in Fun, Motivation, Planning, Work Life Balance | 2 Comments

Mask Up – For Warmth!

Posted on December 9, 2022 by Doug Miller

For about 3 years we have been inundated with information about the use of masks to fend off Covid and other illnesses.  Officials have utilized the trifecta of facts, fear, and force via public service announcements, warnings of impending illness, and the creation of rules that compelled us to adopt this new accessory to our everyday lives.  As much as I don’t miss the daily scramble to remember a mask on my way out the door, there may be another reason to consider masking during the winter.  We all know that cold and flu season corresponds with the colder temps outside, but according to a new study long held beliefs of why were incomplete.  In general, it always made sense that these illnesses would spike in winter as people tended to congregate more indoors, windows were kept closed, and commuters were more likely to utilize public transportation instead of braving the elements to get where they were going.  More people in close proximity with reduced ventilation means more opportunity to spread things like the common cold and flu – appears to be pretty sound math.  However, a new study published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology has shed new light on what may be significantly aiding the spread of these ailments when temps take a dip.

According to the research, reducing the air temperature inside our noses significantly compromises our bodies immune response to germs encountered in our nasal passage, which is the most common way to transmit viruses.  With a reduction in air temperature of just 9 degrees Fahrenheit, we lose nearly 50% of the virus killing bacteria in our nostrils.  That is a staggering handicap considering how cold it gets in New England for long stretches.  From the study, researchers found that when the front portion of the nose detects incoming germs, it begins to create billions of cells called extracellular vesicles, or EVs.  These cells are described extra “sticky” and their job is to latch onto the invading germs and carry them out through nasal mucus as you sneeze or blow your nose, keeping them from getting too far into your nostril and multiplying.  Cells within our bodies contain micro RNA which can kill viruses, but the EVs in our noses contain 13 times the number of micro RNA sequences than normal cells.  Who new there was so much protection stuffed up in there?  But when cold weather hits, such as the 40F test environment studied, a drop of air temp by 9F in the front of our noses can wipe out much of that projection to the tune of 42% fewer EVs produced, and a 70% drop in “stickiness”.  Sounds like a pretty good argument to move south for the winter, or keep our noses warm. 

Now, with the exception of testing the air temp, these findings were done in a lab testing immune response on human tissues, not inside someone’s actual nose.  But the results are fascinating and give us a little more insight into how germs may infect us during winter months.  How long before we see the first nose warmer with integrated Bluetooth earbuds on Shark Tank?

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Covid Thanksgiving

Posted on December 1, 2022 by Islam Zinxhirija

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays because it gives us a chance to get together with family and friends to enjoy some delicious home cooked food. For me thanksgiving is a day where I am thankful and appreciative for the health of my family and friends. We usually host thanksgiving at our house because we are a large family (6 people) and we enjoy having people over at our house. This year we decided to spend the holiday with just the family and take a break from hosting thanksgiving dinner, so we had pre ordered a turkey from our favorite turkey farm for pickup a day before thanksgiving. This year was a little different due to me testing positive for COVID the day before thanksgiving. My wife had to pickup the turkey from the farm instead because I had to stay in isolation. The day of thanksgiving my wife tested positive for COVID. This was terrible news – last time my wife had COVID, she was hospitalized three times for having difficulty breathing. I was worried that she might experience the same issue with breathing, so I spent a lot of time caring for her, ready to call for ambulance should the need arise. On Thanksgiving Day, my wife and I ate dinner together sick as dogs, isolated from the rest of the family, which consists of our son, mother, father, and brother in-law. My mother in-law had to cook the turkey and the rest of the dinner, then deliver the food to our rooms personally, with mask and gloves 😊. This Thanksgiving was special and a reminder for me to be grateful and appreciative of my family. Sometimes it takes an event like this to realize how important family is and to never take it for granted. I will always remember this Thanksgiving because it showed us that things don’t always go as planned, but if you stay together as a family and help each other, then you can overcome any obstacle that comes your way. On a positive note, even though we had Covid, we didn’t lose our taste buds and still enjoyed my mother in-law’s delicious thanksgiving dinner! Even though we didn’t get to spend thanksgiving sitting at the dinner table as a family, my wife and I are better now and COVID free! 

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