Thank you Speir Drive. Not that spending 49 days inside your walls with limited company* has been super fun, but you’ve made it bearable. Dan has a proper office that’s removed from distraction. Anna has the second floor to herself. Even JackO has found spaces to attend his Zoom classes. We have all settled into our new routine fairly easily. Each day Dan’s at “work”, the kids are at “school” and I’m the cook/housekeeper/teacher/baker/online shopping ninja/puzzle solver (okay, maybe I’m not completely settled in, but at least I’m busy(ish)).
When we’re not working (and the weather is cooperating), we’re all enjoying the quiet oasis that is our backyard. We’ve cleaned things up and built a lovely garden that we’re going to fill with vegetables and herbs as soon as the fear of a frost is off the table. We’ve even had the pool folks out to start fixing it up for a long — hopefully not lonely — season (Dan thinks I am nuts, but I have a feeling that he will appreciate it once it’s open and has a working heater).
We loved Clinton Avenue, and will forever miss our neighbors, but this is our home now and we are grateful for it’s flat living and ability to provide private space for everyone and a nice open living area when we want to meet up at the end of the day.
We bought this house last year to make life a little easier. We sold our 1905 center hall colonial with it’s three floors and traded it for a modified mid-century ranch. Jack could live without steps and it’s open floor plan seemed better suited for keeping an eye on him. Dan and I were excited about an attached garage that fit our cars and our old doggies appreciated being able to get to the yard without steep steps. The pool wasn’t part of the plan, but all of us thought it was a fun plus.
We never imagined when we moved in last year that our first spring in this house would arrive with a pandemic. We never pictured Anna coming home in mid march and taking college classes online from her new bedroom OR Jack doing his classes and therapies from a computer on the kitchen island OR Dan taking zoom business meetings in his pajama pants OR me looking forward to using the new mop that was just delivered by a UPS driver wearing a mask and gloves OR using our dog sheers to cut Dan and Jack’s hair OR freaking out when we’re running low on Clorox wipes OR realizing we haven’t purchased gas in six weeks OR needing to check the computer to see what day it is . . .
We never imagined any of this when we moved in last May, BUT this is where we are, and this house has helped us while we’ve been adjusting to this new TEMPORARY normal.
COVID-19 has made life complicated for everyone on the planet. As strange as it’s been for our family, I know how lucky we are. We are all healthy, Dan is able to work from home, we have a fridge full of food, our bathrooms have extra toilet paper, we have a beautiful yard to enjoy the fresh air, my parents have been able to visit, Maria (Jack’s caregiver) is still coming to help out with Jack, and our family is (mostly) enjoying each other’s company AND our quirky new house.
Happy Anniversary Speir Drive! Thanks for keeping us warm and safe this year. We look forward to many more years living here and can’t wait to fill you up again with friends and family — Jack’s graduation? Anna’s birthday? July 4th? Labor Day? Thanksgiving?
Love, Jess
* My parents have joined us several times and Maria (Jack’s caregiver) is still coming. All three of them have been safely quarantining at home when not here.
smiles and duct tape 