Maskless

Last November we decided as a family that we would have to start wearing masks in the common areas of our home if we were going to have our traditional Thanksgiving celebration .  Both Meg and Cal had had close friends test positive for Covid-19, Elkhart County had exploded to a 30% positivity rate, Bethany had reduced to two days a week for in person classes and both Cal and Doug had people at work quarantining for the coronavirus.  None of us liked it, but it seemed the best way for us all to still get together and stay safe.

Fast forward to the beginning of February and we were still in the same boat.  Coronavirus had exploded in our area and local hospitals were overwhelmed.  Thankfully, Brett and Meg had been vaccinated, but that didn't stop them from being carriers.  As much as we hated wearing masks in our own home and on car trips, we all couldn't argue with the fact that it had saved all of us from getting Covid when Cal tested positive in early January.  

Fortunately, Indiana saw an increase in fully vaccinated Hoosiers and a drastic drop in positive tests by the end of February.  Cal had moved to Chicago, so Doug and I talked about dropping the masks in our home with he, Cameron and I.  Since Doug had to travel to Florida for ten days at the beginning of March, we decided that the best course of action was to wait until the two weeks after he returned.  It was what the CDC recommended and we knew that since we had made it this long, we could survive two more weeks.  To make it more fun for Cameron, I got out the Advent calendar once Doug returned and started a fourteen day count down complete with daily prizes for him.  We really had appreciated him helping to keep us healthy at home.  

All of that was planned before we found out that both Doug and I could be vaccinated in early March.  The science behind the first dose immunity from our shots was beginning to surface and the CDC changed the suggestion of fourteen days of quarantining after traveling to ten days.  All of this data gave us the exact reason we needed to stop our at home mask wearing yesterday.  We were all thrilled and I told Cam that he could even continue opening his prizes through the fourteenth day even though we had gone maskless before then.  He was glad to hear that and equally pleased to pull out a ticket for a "dessert of his choice" which he planned on using for a shamrock shake.  It was a nice way to stat the weekend.