This quote may as well have been our motto for 2020. Our year has been ever changing since January, but the optimist in me has tried to find a silver lining in circumstances that can't be controlled.
January brought the first "Plan B" when Bailey had to pivot her college plans. Indiana State University was no longer going to work out. After the harsh reality set in, Bailey explored her college options and found an animation program at Des Moines Area Community College. She scheduled a campus tour a couple weeks later, got on the 1 year waiting list for the animation program, signed a lease for an apartment in Ankeny and prepared for a new plan with the same goal; to complete an animation program and someday work for Disney. Moving day rolled around on August 10, the same day a storm called a Derecho blew through Ankeny and across the Midwest, causing chaos in an already disrupted pandemic situation.
In mid- March our lives were turned upside down. Our Spring Break plans were cancelled when Coronavirus reared it's ugly head and forced the Mall of America (our Spring Break destination), along with many retail stores and businesses to close for 2 months. The intent was to "slow the spread". Sadly, Bailey's last day at Cedar Falls High School was the Friday she left for Spring Break. Days turned into weeks of working and schooling from home. We held onto hope that school would resume and life would return to "normal", but eventually her Senior Prom was cancelled and graduation would have a different twist. I look forward to celebrations like these with great anticipation. We had been planning her graduation party every weekend since August, grabbing coffee and working through the to-do list. I visualized how much joy these milestones would bring. Rather than wallow, I decided to work on my own Plan B to make these events special.
Prom 2020: The One Where We Celebrated At Home. We celebrated prom with a Luau theme, facials, manicures, pictures and dinner from The Brown Bottle. For Post Prom I broke out some silly props and we watched High School Musical 3. For me, Senior Prom was just as special as Junior Prom and a day I will always treasure. After all how many parents get to celebrate their child's Senior Prom with them?!? (Silver lining)
Graduation also had a different twist. Cedar Falls High School really wanted to make the experience special for the students. On what I call, Diploma Day, I witnessed Bailey at the high school, along with my dad, sister and brother, walk across the auditorium stage and receive her diploma. It was videotaped and compiled into a livestream commencement program that was shown on May 24th. I am so grateful to the Cedar Falls administration, faculty and staff for making this experience truly memorable. This will be something no other senior class will experience. Plus we got to enjoy the 2 hour ceremony from the comfort of our living room. (Silver lining)
On the final day of Bailey's senior year, we went to the UNI campus to have some photographic fun. I love pictures and these captured the joy of finishing school, along with hope for a new future. Even though the last 9 weeks of Bailey's senior year were not at all what we expected, we got to spend every day together and I will always remember that. (Silver lining)
For the past 6 months, the year 2020 has gotten a bad name. It will definitely be a year to be remembered. I choose to remember the happiness the year has brought and focus on more silver linings.
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