But then everything came to a crashing halt. John returned from Belgium and we found ourselves quarantined. Less than a week later, school became our living room, and I became the unqualified teacher.

Next came the killing of a black man in Minneapolis, and our city spent the next few weeks in mayhem as our community sought justice.

We saw the hateful side of humanity. We saw the beautiful side of humanity. We spent quality time together. We spent too much time together.

We learned to roll with the punches. How to talk with our children about impossible topics.

We transformed our living space into a place for school, work, art, gymnasium, and recess. We spent more time outdoors, exploring every nook and cranny of our neighborhood, and found new trails and parks.

We lost family members, my grandma Eveyln, and my uncle, Curt. We mourned seperately, bonded together by our loneliness of saying goodbye and attending a funeral over FaceTime and Zoom.

John got a promotion. The boys learned an absurd amount about football. They now only wear shirts bearing team names and Star Wars characters. Porter still remains our animal expert, Rhodes our car expert. Siena continues aerial arts in circus, and is dedicated to fitness and learning to do the splits, while Porter tries his hand at Trampoline.

We bought an RV, a long time dream of ours. John jokes that while his friends buy Teslas, he ended up with the ultimate station wagon.

As we look toward 2021, we are uncertain of how it’ll turn out. Just as I looked over photos of the last year, will I still categorize everything as the “before” times? Will we finally find the “after”?

So much we have learned of ourselves. So much we have lost. So much we have gained. May we remember these times with wisdom, and carry on the important lessons long into the after. Remembering what is important, and shedding that which is not.

Here’s to a better year, and the promise of After.

Love,

The Hickmans