Winter 2020

Well, I won’t even begin to pretend that we had a nice winter during this most foul year of our lord, 2020.  January actually got off to a pretty great start–the ramp up to tax season was surprisingly smooth, Rachael and Josef were in high spirits and very supportive of my extra work hours.  We hired two interns from the OSU College of Business and their training was going smoothly.  Josef and I took a fun trip to Eugene for a rainy river hike, breakfast at Ye Olde Pancake House, Harry Potter performed by the Eugene Symphony, and a visit to a vintage pinball arcade.  Josef was becoming fast friends with Raleigh, Gramheart’s adorable little Havanese puppy.

Of course we all know where things went next: quarantine and home school.  As if that wasn’t disruptive enough, Rachael was stricken with a mysterious abdominal swelling and terrible pain, for which treatment was not forthcoming.  Due to the lockdown, it was next to impossible to get in front of a competent physician.  After weeks of being bedridden, I finally took her to the ER, where a ultrasound confirmed a nightmare scenario:  ovarian cancer.

I can’t possibly overstate the awfulness of our March.  Thank god for Gramheart, Grammanette, Aunt Sarah, and Grandpa Steve, who all circled the wagons and took on the responsibility of homeschooling and caring for Josef while I ground out 70 hour weeks at work.  It was definitely one of those times that we will all look back on and think “how the hell did we pull that off?!”

Below you will find some photos from some of the happier moments:  Josef learned to play chess, and we frequently squared off on rainy days. Josef threw birthday party for Freddy, his best friend teddy who is always at his side.  We had our traditional Opa birthday feast – German rouladen prepared by Gramheart.  Josef started practicing his writing skills by corresponding with other classmates during the quarantine.  Josef also began planning an elaborate circus act to put on outside Grammie’s window.

(Spoiler Alert:  Rachael’s cancer treatment has been wildly successful so far.  She is doing amazingly well.  More on that in the next installment.)