...you'll need to add sugar and water.
"These are unusual times," I've heard repeated and written innumerable times. The quarantine imposed upon us by COVID-19 has certainly brought on some unprecedented circumstances. I've also heard a lot of references to making lemonade out of the lemons life hands you. In many ways, the quarantine brought welcome changes: sleeping in, less school work, more family time, movie night, more home-cooked meals. The other side of the coin was more painful: layoffs, furloughs, sickness, depression, missed opportunities and plenty of disappointments.
The Knuth Family made the best of it. With their three oldest in college, and the eldest slated to graduate this past spring, it was a rare occurrence to have everyone home at the same time. Something, Wendy shared, that happens only once or twice a year—usually during the holidays when it's too cold or busy to do a family picture. Turns out quarantine was the perfect time to do a family portrait!
When Wendy asked me if I was up for doing a family portrait, quarantine-style, I jumped at the chance. We'd do it outside, without masks, and I'd keep my "social distance." The morning of the session, the weather looked a little dicey, but with the flexibility granted to us by blank quarantine schedules, we were able to move the time around to accommodate impending rain. (What did we do before we had weather apps??) The session was a blast! We did it at their house, which has lovely green space, is wooded and borders a lake.
I wish everyone had thought to do a family portrait during quarantine! By adding a little ingenuity and spontaneity (or sugar and water), we were able to make lemonade from a somewhat sour situation. And the final product will bless them for years to come! Now that's a quarantine memory worth keeping :).
