It was definitely not the most relaxing camping trip of our lives. But we were away from the place where we’d all spent most of our time for the previous 21 weeks, with great friends and in fresh air. The days weren’t easy, but there was so much laughter. We didn’t completely escape being around other people, but there was enough space that we only wore masks on one hiking trail and when we went inside the small store for ice or food. It wasn’t a perfect trip, but it was a little bit of what we all needed in this strange time.

Literally no other family in the history of civilization has lived through exactly what our family is living through right now. I know that tends toward hyperbole, but it’s actually an absolute truth. A truth that is somehow stranger than fiction.