AWC Going Dutch Sept 2020

Appreciating Family
by Johanna Dishongh
I
am sure that I am not the only one who thinks 2020 will be one year which we will never
forget. Our year began on a huge high with the news that Grace (our middle daughter
who was married in October 2019) had accepted a position at Texas Children’s Hospital
in Houston, and she and her husband Jordan, would be relocating “back home” in mid-
February. After helping them settle, Frank and I jetted off to our house in Colorado to join
our youngest, Olivia, for a quick ski holiday before she began an exchange program from
the University of Edinburgh (UE) to Colorado State University (CSU) on March 1. Olivia
was a fourth-year veterinary medicine student. The two “sister vet programs” exchange five
final year students each year for a clinical rotation cycle.
We returned to Houston and I focused on preparations for the FAWCO Interim Meeting
in Luxembourg later that month. Then this thing called coronavirus or COVID-19 starting
swirling around us. There were reports of travelers being quarantined to hotels once an active
case was diagnosed. WhatsApp started blowing up with messages asking if I was still
planning to travel to Europe and I began to ponder the thought of being stuck in a hotel in
Luxembourg. At the same time, Frank struggled with an office of over 1,000 employees in
close proximity. On March 9, I received notification from FAWCO of the cancellation. On
March 12, we were notified of “lockdown” by the assisted living facility where my motherin-law
lives, thus we could no longer visit her. Within days, Olivia contacted us in a panic
about CSU calling all of their students back to the US from Edinburgh. UE was telling their
students that is was up to them: they could stay at CSU and finish their rotation, but if they
returned early, they would not be penalized. Concerned that she may be stuck in Colorado
or not allowed to return to the UK, Olivia began a zigzag journey of cancelled and rebooked
flights back to Scotland. Her last connection was through Schiphol so I felt blessed that I
could call on a posse of friends if she became stranded in Holland.
By March 25, Houston and surrounding counties went on “Stay Home, Work Safe”
orders; all except essential services were closed. While Jordan lost all hope of finding a job
in Houston, Grace continued to work. Tracy (our eldest) was fortunate to work from home,
while trying to “teach” her kindergartner daughter since school did not resume after spring
break. Her husband Shayne works in law enforcement, so he continued to work daily with
the general public. Frank closed his office and worked from home. It was quite strange having
him in the house all day and also strange how you can feel so isolated when someone
is close. We had limited contact with both girls’ families due to the exposure risk from both
Shayne and Grace. We began allowing them over in the backyard to swim and grill out on a
limited basis and then it happened. On April 17, Grace had an unprotected exposure at work.
She worked in a low-risk area, so PPE was not used on a routine basis due to short supply.
Although she tested negative after 5 days, she was required to quarantine for 14 days. Our
house was on lockdown again.
May. Unfortunately, I think this led to an impression
that we were over the worst of it.
Grace and Shayne continued to see another
side of the impact in their jobs.
Eventually UE cancelled all summer
graduations. Our family trip to Scotland and
that hard-earned graduation ceremony from
vet school would not happen. They held a
“virtual graduation” on June 18. Olivia was
given one personal log-in and one guest log-in,
so Tracy, Grace and Jordan joined us for the
7 a.m. watch party at our house. We made a
FaceTime call with Olivia toward the end and
enjoyed a virtual toast together. Not quite the
celebration we had expected, but the university did an excellent job of making the best of it.
As temperatures increased, so did the daily case count. Frank was asked to take on a new
role which has him coordinating with groups all over the country. No longer required to be in
Houston, we made the decision to “migrate” to
our house in Colorado for the summer. Grace
experienced another exposure in early July
and spent another stressful 14 days waiting
an outcome. The hospital has finally changed
procedures and every patient is now treated
as potential COVID-19 and PPE is provided
to all workers.
Our family has not been together since
Grace’s wedding in October 2019. Olivia is
in the UK and we, as US passport holders, are
currently on a travel ban. If she leaves, she
may not be able to get back in. With Grace and
Shayne’s community contact, we had very limited
family contact before coming to Colorado.
We are hoping for a family Christmas, at this
point a dream, but something to hold onto.
One positive during this time was that Jordan secured a three-month contract position.
We had been worried about him as he had moved away from his home for the first time, was
in a city where he only knew his in-laws and was completely isolated; even the dog park in
their neighborhood had been locked down.
The governor allowed the Stay-at-Home orders to expire on April 30 and began a phased
reopening of the state. Things continued to stay at a relatively low, manageable level through
50 GOING DUTCH
SEPTEMBER 2020 51