Welcoming 2021 with a bang (this time a good thing)

Our family has some big news to share from today, but once again, I'm going to back up and share a bit about yesterday (New Year's Eve) first. 

New Year's Eve was both fun and rotten all at the same time. As I had anticipated, the fall-out from R.'s adventures with the dentist the previous day was significant. The entire day was spent with her having psychogenic seizures and some psychosis and me and J. tag-teaming each other to stay by her and keep her calm. We've learned that with support and work with mindfulness exercises, we can keep her in the present and hold the seizures and panic at bay. On a day like yesterday, though, she needs this support nearly continuously. She stayed up to welcome the New Year, but because she doesn't sleep in this state, she would have been up anyway. 

And we did celebrate New Year's Eve. Everyone was home and we ate and played games and laughed and toasted in the new year. I hadn't bought a new game for the family at Christmas, so decided a new game to play together on New Year's Eve would be fun. I found a game called Codenames and based on reviews decided to order it. It turned out to be a hit. I loved the fact that any number of people could play, including those who might not be able to play other complicated games. This is a very rare thing to find. Plus, it involves word play, which in our word-loving family is a huge plus. And to top it off, it is pretty inexpensive for a Euro-game. I recommend it.

The night was not good. R. had a very difficult time relaxing and both J. and I were up with her, though J. did the bulk of the nighttime duty. Today she is much better. She is still not happy about her mouth hurting or the soft diet we have her on, but she is not having seizures or panic attacks like yesterday. I am tentatively taking a deep breath that we have weathered the worst for now. (She does have that follow-up appointment next week and I anticipate it will be a couple of days of recovering after that as well.) 

Now, to get to the big news. This afternoon W. got married in a very small, very eloping sort of way. We knew about it, don't worry, but due to Covid and the political climate in the fall, they planned a simple ceremony now with a bigger celebration when people can safely gather again. 

Meet our new son-in-law, MK!

MK's dog

And the parents were all there... sort of. (This was in Dallas.)

We are so happy for them both. They are good for each other. There are still a lot of details to work out as W. is finishing school and MK is in negotiations with his employer (he's a graphic designer) about where he will be able to work. I'm afraid that long-distance will be the name of the game for a few months at least. I love seeing my child so happy and cared for. 

Before I hit publish, here's my notice that I wish I didn't have to write. As with other things, such as a pregnancy or an adoption, there is really only one thing that is appropriate to say in response and that is "Congratulations!" If you cannot do that, then scroll on by, because I will be monitoring comments pretty heavily and I am well-versed in the use of the delete button.