Two Weeks of Isolation
Before returning home each of the senior couples were given a detailed list of what to do and how to behave to stay well if at all possible. The mission physician said that the airplane ride home would be a place to possibly pick up the virus. We were told in no uncertain terms to self-isolate for 2 solid weeks.
They said if someone picks us up at the airport, make sure it was only one person. For the young missionaries especially, they were told to self-isolate in a room and to stay away from everyone. This makes good sense in theory, but so difficult to do. Everyone was told to stay completely away from older people, for obvious reasons. There were several other things.
We were so grateful that Derek and Heather were so willing to have us stay with them. But there were some drawbacks. We couldn't see how we could be isolated from them without it causing a real burden on the whole family. And then what would happen after our 2 weeks in isolation? How long will we be here? Will the circumstances change and will we go back to Oxford? We felt so unsettled and full of anxiety about what lay ahead.
When we got home, and were greeted with the huge colorful banner and the beautiful smiling faces of our family - across the street! - they asked us how we felt about staying in an apartment for awhile. They told us they had found a lovely little apartment owned by a couple who had returned from a mission in Iraq just a couple of months ago. Melissa had asked a friend in passing if she knew of any apartments for rent where one) Melissa's parents could spend two weeks in isolation and 2) where they could stay for 2 up to 12 months.
This friend knew of someone who lives by the Gilbert Temple!!! With heart-felt gratitude we said "YES!" It was a little bit like being being thrown a lifeline. With a place and space to call our own, a bathroom, bedroom and a kitchen - no matter how small and humble, we would be beyond grateful. And we wouldn't be a burden on anyone, nor a threat of catching a frightening virus. We can weather out our solitary confinement. So Erin and Melissa (and both families) went into overdrive, getting it ready for us.
I had no idea what that meant. They must have worked so very hard. They both plundered liberally from each of their homes and somehow got large heavy items here, as well as a myriad of smaller ones. A king-sized bed just happened to be for sale in the neighborhood - at an unbelievable price. They brought in a TV and mounted it on the wall.
We came in with our jaws dropped, and SK cried. I could not believe my eyes. I don't know how they accomplished what they did. As we pulled up to the house, Melissa, Derek T, Ethan and Erin were outside with the home owners. It was dark, and the nearby Gilbert Temple was lit up like a beautiful beacon. The people who own the home greeted us warmly - from 12 feet away, and told us what amazing people our children are to have accomplished all they did in the last two days.
They didn't just move in a bed, a couch, a couple of chairs, a table and chairs and dressers, they filled the refrigerator, the cupboards, the freezer with food....fun food and serious food. They stocked the kitchen with cleaners, and the bathroom with soap, shampoo and lotion as well as all kinds of sample makeup products.
They brought a little shelf of books for us to read, stationery to write on, stamps to mail letters with, and a portable heater for cold weather. (If that ever happens.) The table we will use for our dining table has a drawer in the side which holds some fun fun fun word games - which SK and I play whenever we eat. They brought in some of my favorite pieces of art from their own homes.
I cannot believe all that they have done. There is not a single thing I can think of that we could need beyond what is here. And all that is here make this place so lovely, so inviting, so fun. We are humbled beyond words that they would do this for us. Twice now, I have toured the apartment looking in every cupboard, stopping to admire all of the art they carted in and the many things that make this so ours.
Instead of being a humble little apartment, we feel like we are living in a penthouse - well, a luxury apartment that is. We feel spoiled.
I don't know how other people are doing with the 2-week isolation, but this just may be the best vacation we have ever had.
Thank you my darling daughters. We may be here for a year, and that would suit me just fine.
They said if someone picks us up at the airport, make sure it was only one person. For the young missionaries especially, they were told to self-isolate in a room and to stay away from everyone. This makes good sense in theory, but so difficult to do. Everyone was told to stay completely away from older people, for obvious reasons. There were several other things.
We were so grateful that Derek and Heather were so willing to have us stay with them. But there were some drawbacks. We couldn't see how we could be isolated from them without it causing a real burden on the whole family. And then what would happen after our 2 weeks in isolation? How long will we be here? Will the circumstances change and will we go back to Oxford? We felt so unsettled and full of anxiety about what lay ahead.
When we got home, and were greeted with the huge colorful banner and the beautiful smiling faces of our family - across the street! - they asked us how we felt about staying in an apartment for awhile. They told us they had found a lovely little apartment owned by a couple who had returned from a mission in Iraq just a couple of months ago. Melissa had asked a friend in passing if she knew of any apartments for rent where one) Melissa's parents could spend two weeks in isolation and 2) where they could stay for 2 up to 12 months.
This friend knew of someone who lives by the Gilbert Temple!!! With heart-felt gratitude we said "YES!" It was a little bit like being being thrown a lifeline. With a place and space to call our own, a bathroom, bedroom and a kitchen - no matter how small and humble, we would be beyond grateful. And we wouldn't be a burden on anyone, nor a threat of catching a frightening virus. We can weather out our solitary confinement. So Erin and Melissa (and both families) went into overdrive, getting it ready for us.
I had no idea what that meant. They must have worked so very hard. They both plundered liberally from each of their homes and somehow got large heavy items here, as well as a myriad of smaller ones. A king-sized bed just happened to be for sale in the neighborhood - at an unbelievable price. They brought in a TV and mounted it on the wall.
We came in with our jaws dropped, and SK cried. I could not believe my eyes. I don't know how they accomplished what they did. As we pulled up to the house, Melissa, Derek T, Ethan and Erin were outside with the home owners. It was dark, and the nearby Gilbert Temple was lit up like a beautiful beacon. The people who own the home greeted us warmly - from 12 feet away, and told us what amazing people our children are to have accomplished all they did in the last two days.
They didn't just move in a bed, a couch, a couple of chairs, a table and chairs and dressers, they filled the refrigerator, the cupboards, the freezer with food....fun food and serious food. They stocked the kitchen with cleaners, and the bathroom with soap, shampoo and lotion as well as all kinds of sample makeup products.
They brought a little shelf of books for us to read, stationery to write on, stamps to mail letters with, and a portable heater for cold weather. (If that ever happens.) The table we will use for our dining table has a drawer in the side which holds some fun fun fun word games - which SK and I play whenever we eat. They brought in some of my favorite pieces of art from their own homes.
I cannot believe all that they have done. There is not a single thing I can think of that we could need beyond what is here. And all that is here make this place so lovely, so inviting, so fun. We are humbled beyond words that they would do this for us. Twice now, I have toured the apartment looking in every cupboard, stopping to admire all of the art they carted in and the many things that make this so ours.
I don't know how other people are doing with the 2-week isolation, but this just may be the best vacation we have ever had.
Thank you my darling daughters. We may be here for a year, and that would suit me just fine.
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