My siblings and I piled out of the car when we got to the house, and eagerly looked around for any other cars that had already gotten there. We were glad the annual reunion hadn’t been canceled due to the new virus that was just stepping into the spotlight. We were excited for a fun vacation to relax and have fun with friends. Only two families had beaten us there. We unloaded as quickly as possible, wanting to explore the house we would be staying in for the next three days. Before we were finished another car pulled up, and everyone helped them lug their stuff inside too. Eventually, the cars stopped coming, and we were let loose to swarm the house. So many bedrooms to look at, so many stairs to run up and down, and, outside, such a big lake, and wonder of wonders, two kayaks! But they wouldn’t be pulled out today, so we reluctantly drifted off to pick rooms, investigate who had brought which board games, and try our hands at the table tennis in the corner. 

The days went by far too quickly. We went on hikes, played lots of board games, and ate lots of junk food. Sometimes I just sat and listened to the adults. With Covid-19 just starting to demand the world’s attention, that took up a significant part of their conversation. Were masks useful? Was the impending lockdown a good idea? How much caution was necessary? I listened, wondered what would come of it, and left life to carry on as it would. 

One night I and the other two oldest children started a game of poker. We set up after supper, and started to play. I, as Big Blind, put two chips into the center. Jane put in one for Little Blind and one for the rest of the bet, and Mark, as Dealer, put down two and turned over a card. So it began. While we played we talked and joked. Mark laughed that we were so bad at shuffling, we laughed back. We made mistakes, and dissolved into giggles. We were far too tired to take things seriously, and the hilarity mounted with every minute. Quite soon we were falling over with laughter at nothing. The adults, talking quietly in the next room, started laughing just listening to us.

It was a wonderful night, full of laughter and companionship. It was an island of calm between worrying, a dose of people to smooth the weeks of lockdown ahead.

I had known about Covid-19 long before the lockdown. I heard plenty of arguments for and against whether it would spread from China, how fast it would spread, and whether there were any measures that were actually likely to contain it. But while it has not been a fun time, I never really started to worry, before or later, and I consider that a blessing.