2021 in Review: Happy New Year!

This year was, unfortunately, another "pandemic year". These past 22 months have been so hard for many and we want to acknowledge how very lucky we have been. Our hope is that the coming year will be better and brighter for everyone who is struggling.

January started off quiet and family oriented. Julia was attending her senior year of high school remotely. The school was running in hybrid mode, so she had a choice of whether to go in person or attend online, but she and most of her friends opted for online. Her teachers did an admirable job in a very difficult situation, and Julia tried her best to stay engaged. We enjoyed our family time together, hiking and playing disc golf when we could.

The first big excitement was when Greg flew back to Pittsburgh to attend his spring semester at Carnegie Mellon in person. Students had the choice of attending either fall or spring semester in person, and he opted for spring. Karen was concerned about the risk of the flight, so she bought KN95 masks and face shields, which he was kind enough to wear and send a picture. The face shield was a bit silly looking because the top of it said "Face Shield" in giant letters. I guess just in case anyone was curious about what it was you had on your face. Carnegie Mellon had made it so all students were in singles so Greg had a very nice student apartment all to himself, including a full kitchen, living room, and 1 1/2 bathrooms. He managed to prepare most of his meals for himself, although a large percentage of them were cheerios with milk or peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with fresh fruit on the side. He survived and was relatively happy so we won't complain.

Not much happened in February and March. It was a time of waiting and hoping for vaccines. We were excited and relieved as Karen's dad and aunt and Leo's grandfather were able to be vaccinated. In fact, Leo's grandfather was the ticket for Leo to get his vaccine as well. Massachusetts started a program where people accompanying seniors could get vaccinated themselves. Leo was going with his grandfather anyway to provide a ride and translate for him, so we weren't going to say no. Karen was also able to be vaccinated by the end of April. She read all the tips and tricks about how to find spots (the main thing was the check the CVS site shortly after midnight when they loaded in new appointments), and she helped a few others get the spots as well. While we waited for everyone to be able to fully vaccinated, we continued to enjoy outdoor amusements.

April was exciting with Julia turning 18 years old! She was able to meet with a few of her friends at a local park and things finally started to feel like they were turning a corner. We had a series of adult foster kitties that cheered us all through the winter and spring, and one special moment was when our older, frail foster Lexi was able to jump up on Julia's bed for the first time. We had been helping her regain her strength for almost a month and the momentous leap happened on Julia's birthday so we called it her birthday miracle! On April 26, Julia finally went back to school in person, after over 13 months of remote learning!

By May we were all vaccinated, woo hoo! Leo and Karen set off by car to pick up Gregory and all his stuff from Pittsburgh. Luckily, Karen's cousin Jimmy and his husband Thomas had opened the Country Hearth Bed & Breakfast in Lancaster, PA which is the perfect location as a stopover for a trip to Pittsburgh. We did a bit of sight seeing in Pittsburgh, walking around and then going to the Duquesne Incline.

We then spent several more days at the delightful Country Hearth Bed & Breakfast with Jimmy and Thomas. We celebrated Greg's birthday, explored the museum and battlefields of Gettysburg, walked around the adorable town of Lititz, played board games, enjoyed delicious food and cookies, and visited an Amish farm. This trip felt like an exhilarating near return to normal life. We ate at RESTAURANTS! Sure, we sat outside, but it was at real restaurants and it felt like a return to normalcy at last! More Pennsylvania road trip pictures

Over Memorial Day we split up for our own adventures. Julia stayed at home, engaging in fun activities with her friends before graduation and taking care of a plethora of cats. Gregory spent a week at a house on Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire with four of his best high school friends and one of their families. Leo and Karen went up to New Hampshire's White Mountains with Leo's mom and sister for some beautiful hikes. Leo and Karen were excited they got to play disc golf with Kevin Dill, Jean, and Jack on the way up. Leo bought a new disc and on the very first hole he tried it, he threw it into the middle of a river. It was an exciting adventure to retreive it. One of the highlights of New Hampshire was the Flume Gorge. We ordered tickets a week in advance to sure be it wouldn't be sold out and watched with a bit of trepidation when the weather forecast got rainier and rainier as the day approached. Luckily the day itself turned out fine. We had just a bit of "magical mist" and the downpour waited until we were walking back to car. We also visited the New England Ski Museum. More New Hampshire Memorial Day pictures

June's big event was Julia's graduation! We felt very lucky that we were able to have it in person, and a good time was had although the temperature spiked into the high 90s so fans, ice packs, and water bottles were essential. At first the school was going to give just 2 tickets per student, which spurred an interesting conversation about who should go in person versus watch on the local TV network, but luckily they opened it up to a bigger audience just in time. Julia also got to enjoy a modified version of senior week and senior prom. It definitely wasn't quite like usual, but better than nothing! More graduation pictures

We were finally able to have a larger family party again (on a back deck) to celebrate Ded Vladik's 93rd birthday!

Gregory, Leo, Karen, Galina, and Katya rented a house in Western Massachusetts in July. It was next to a lake so we enjoyed swimming and boating. We also hiked, picked berries and cherries, visited the beautiful gilded age Naumkeag Estate, explored several neat sculpture parks, enjoyed the Norman Rockwell museum, and saw an outdoor performance of Gershwin (who could ask for anything more?). More Western Mass pictures

One funny incident from the summer was when Greg asked Julia, "Why does someone, I am assuming you, keep leaving clean bowls on the chairs in the kitchen? Is there a reason, because I just keep putting them back in the shelf." Oops! Those were not clean bowls. Those were mostly empty cereal bowls that Julia and Karen would leave for Rosie (our cat) to lick clean because she loves Cheerios and milk. Slighly horrifying.

A not funny incident from the summer was when Greg ruptured his Achilles tendon while at a badminton lesson. It was his left Achilles, so he was able to drive himself home, and at least Achilles injuries are not general too painful (at least at first). Greg was not a very patient patient. He refused to use crutches so at first he just hopped everywhere, to everyone's horror (they kept trying to put him in wheelchairs when we got to doctor's offices). After a bit of panic and frantic calling around, we were able to schedule surgery for him on Friday, July 30th in Providence. The problem was that was also the day we were supposed to leave for a long weekend in Pennsylvania for Karen's Aunt's birthday/mini family reunion. Gregory insisted that he was going no matter what. The surgeon sounded pretty dubious about this plan but reluctantly agreed. So directly after the surgery we loaded Greg in the car with his leg wedged above the center console and off we went on the 7 hour drive. We stopped a few times so Greg could hop around a bit to avoid blood clots. He was blissfully free of pain due to the blockers from his surgery, but then woke up in pain in the middle of the night. He managed to gulp down some of the pain meds and everything went pretty smoothly from there on out. We bought him a "hands free crutch" which made him look a bit like a bionic person. He still hopped around the house, but used the bionic leg when he was out shopping or to play Beat Saber, a virtual reality game we're all into.

The good news is that the long weekend in Pennsylvania was wonderful, despite the rough start, and we enjoyed a lot of fun family time! We were once again staying at the Country Hearth Bed & Breakfast, enjoying delicious food and games. Some highlights were the murder mystery party we all participated in together and a rousing game of mini golf.

On the way home from Pennsylvania we stopped by New York City to visit with Leo's cousin Tanya and her family. Julia really enjoyed her discussion with Tanya's husband Niell, who is an engineering professor, as she thought about what classes to sign up for as she prepared to enter Tufts engineering.

And then the end of August was upon us and it was time to become empty nesters! Greg was given a ride to Pittsburgh by Galina and Katya, and we helped Julia move in and said goodbye. Julia lucked out with a very nice roommate and enjoyed a pre-orientation program where she volunteered in the local community.

In September, we did a little apple picking and enjoyed a bit of time with Karen's dad (our first time seeing him in a year and a half!), including visiting an impressive exhibit of Titian paintings at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.

And then it was time! We had decided back in March to book a cruise to drown our anticipated sorrows to saying goodbye to both kids and to have something to look forward to. We'd done a similar cruise after Greg had gone off to college and it was a great distraction. Back in March we figured that surely by the end of September COVID would be under control with the vaccines coming out. Not quite, but we went for it anyway. We figured out the COVID tests we needed and headed off to Italy with a mixture of trepidation and excitement. It turned out to be a wonderful trip. Our cruise left from Rome and visited Naples, Barcelona, and Palma de Mallorca. The planned stop in Marseille was cancelled about a month in advance, and our excursion in Cinque Terre was cancelled the night before due to bad weather (and you were only allowed to get off the ship on an approved excursion so we couldn't go anywhere on our own). But we just took more time to enjoy the beautiful ship. Several months before the trip we were questioning whether it was worth it to go or not, with all the masks, limitations, and stress. We realized that it was not going to be like our past vacations, but that the choice was between this trip or nothing, so we decided to embrace all the things we could do and try not to fret over what we couldn't and how things were different (side note, this is one of Karen's favorite TED talks, which talks about appreciating what you have). We loved the various shows on the ship and because it was so empty (only at about 25% occupancy), we could easily use the zip line, mini golf, hot tubs, and the "Flowrider" surf/boogie board simulator. We were frequently the only diners for our waiters at the dining room so we had the best service imaginable. We also enjoyed 3 days in Rome after the cruise. We discovered and greatly enjoyed Rick Steve's audio guides to explore all around the city. More Italy and cruise pictures

We got back and Karen's dad came to spend a few days. It was fun to introduce him to our foster kittens. He makes lots of jokes about all our cats, but I found several times that he had snuck into the foster room to play more with kittens. It was so nice to be able to spend time with him in person again!

We were thankful to be back to close to our usual Thanksgiving traditions. Both kids came back from college. Greg had grown impressively shaggy, so Karen once again utilized her pandemic barbering skills.

We had a full Zelevinsky gathering at our house on Thanksgiving day. We had some 4 week old foster kittens that came down to check out the Thanksgiving table for a quick visit between courses. Then the next day we drove down to Connecticut for a second Thanksgiving with Karen's extended family. Karen's Aunt Marilyn provided a delicious Thanksgiving spread and we followed our tradition of helping to set up the Christmas tree and outdoor light show. We played games, as is our wont, including a fun history trivia game we dug out of the game room that was from circa 1990. We apparently bought it at a thrift store years ago for 50 cents and definitely got our 50 cents worth!

Hanukkah was earlier than usual this year so we got to celebrate the first night together before the kids headed back to school. We were especially happy to be able to resume our latke tradition with the Sitkoffs. We worked with the kids to think up eight gifts for each of them and Karen had a grand vision of sending them back to school with one to open each night. But she got quickly outvoted and all presents were opened and enjoyed in a flash. Probably for the best.

We managed to squeak in a family trip to Saint Lucia in mid-December, just before the Omicron surge. We had a mix of members from Leo and Karen's family. Julia was still in classes at Tufts and couldn't make the trip, so we realized Greg was unique in being blood related to all 9 members of the group. Leo's mom found a really amazing villa to rent that was a short walk from the beach. We took some fun local hikes from the house and a subset of us took a day trip to Gros Piton, a local volcanic mountain thing. The internet wasn't much help when deciding whether we'd be fit enough to make it to the top or not. For example, reviews on TripAdvisor say "The hike was very hard and I only made it half way" followed immediately by "You should ignore reviews calling this a 'climb' or saying that it's very difficult." The gist seemed to be you have to be "reasonably fit". A very vague bar. You're required to have a guide and as we started off Karen asked her how often people didn't make it to the top. The guide replied in a grim tone, "every day". Gulp. In the end it was basically like doing a stairmaster for 4 hours, with amazing views and nice company, and we all made it up to the top. Some of us were a bit sore the next day while others like Greg seemed completely unaffected. Karen's dad, David, at 80 was the oldest person our guide had ever taken to the top. We also took a beautiful, day long boat trip one day to enjoy some snorkeling and Saint Lucia's amazing coastline. We played lots of games, as usual, and celebrated David's 81st birthday. More St. Lucia pictures

Karen's Aunt Linda came to stay and got to meet our foster kitties and enjoy more family time. Games were definitely a theme of the year and we got in some more games in December.

Games!

Leo continued his work on Game of Thrones: Conquest with WB Games Boston, working from home all year. He really misses working in the office with his friends, but is making do and it's nice not to have the drive to work and back every day. Usually Karen and Leo are both working together on the couch, and while Karen is having a meeting, Leo usually tries to listen to some music while wearing headphones so as not to get distracted. This led to much listening of 'Hamilton' front to back and culminated with a very fun trip to see 'Hamilton' performed live in Providence, which we really enjoyed. He is continuing the usual activities from previous years - MTG Arena, bridge, disc golf, Clash Royale, and more. He had a lot of fun playing 'It Takes Two' - which is a cooperative platformer video game about divorce. First he played it with Gregory, then with Karen, and is now playing it for the third time with Barb.

Leo working with Bliss

The essentials of Karen's life were similar to last year (Salesforce consulting for nonprofits, foster kitties, treasurer at church, daily kick scooting). Getting used to empty nester life was actually easier than expected. Karen and Leo found a nice pattern living as a couple again, almost similar to the pre-kid days. Leo cooks and cleans up after all dinners and in return Karen has been decluttering all different parts of the house. Leo does all the trash/recyling and Karen empties the dishwasher. We are like a well oiled machine! Karen has been enjoying her book clubs, podcasts, and favorite tv shows, as well as weekly Zoom calls with the kids and family. Fostering kitties has continue to be a great joy for the whole family. We had 30 fosters this year, with a variety of sweet adult cats from January to June and moms with kittens from July to December. We reached an all time high of 16 cats in the house starting October 30 (13 fosters and our 3 cats) when a pregnant cat living in Julia's room who we were "keeping for a few days until her foster home is ready" gave birth a bit before schedule to 5 kittens while we still had a mom and 6 kittens in the main foster room. It was kittens galore!

Karen with some of her foster cats this year

Gregory is half way through his junior year of college at Carnegie Mellon. He's very happy to be back on campus but was a little sad he couldn't do badminton and fencing in the fall due to his Achilles tendon injury. He is really looking forward to enjoying them again this spring. He had a fun internship with Lockheed Martin over the summer.

Gregory

Julia finished her senior year, with highlights including her last science olympiad tournaments and tennis matches, her last few months of school able to be more "normal", and cherished time with her friends. She then started her first year at Tufts, and she has loved it so far! She has met some wonderful friends and has really enjoyed her classes. She is also working on a team for JumboCode, which builds applications for nonprofits, and for Tufts Engineers Without Borders. Her only complaint has been the "lack of cats" in college. She is excited for her next semester!

Julia surrounded by high school and college friends

Our resident cats (Bliss, Rosie, and Momo) are doing well, spending most of every day laying next to us on the couch, soaking in the warmth and hoping for (and receiving) chin scratches.

Bliss, Rosie, and Momo

We're wishing all our friends and family a happy and healthy 2022!

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