Home for the holidays?

While not a lifelong Yooper myself, there are many generations of Yoopers on both sides of my family. In 2008, after finishing high school, I left the U.P. for East Lansing, where I studied Biology. After graduating, I spent the summer working on the Delta County Road Commission as part of the summer crew to save some money before starting graduate school at Duke University. No matter how far away I’ve lived- in Ohio as a child, downstate, North Carolina, or now in Washington D.C, I have made it back to the U.P. for almost every holiday season. 

A little over two years ago, my parents, brother, and I bought the cottage my grandparents once owned on Garth Point. My wife and I had dreams of summer days out on the bay and cozy winter nights in front of the fireplace. When the pandemic hit in February and began to spiral out of control across the East Coast in early March, my wife and I took our dog and cat, packed up our car, and drove the 14 hours from D.C. to the U.P. We’d made the long trips there many times. Still, this time, we had no idea how long we’d stay or how long the pandemic would last.

We felt confident that we’d made the right choice as the cases stayed low through the 4th of July (37 confirmed cases and 3 deaths), and we enjoyed many beautiful days out on the lake. We avoided large celebrations, though many in Delta County balked at the need to wear masks and practice social distancing. In the two months that followed, it got harder and harder to say no to a hug from Grandma and Grandpa. Harder to follow the recommendations. Sometimes the no’s were too hard, so we said yes. 

We watched as cases increased 5 times to over 200, while thankfully, there were no new deaths. In September, we decided to return to Washington D.C. feeling assured that the new cases would leave with the warmth of summer and the tourists that had flocked to the area. We promised to return in a couple of months, confident that then we could finally spend some much-needed time together. Unfortunately, in those short two months, the cases have increased by almost 5 times again (1,004 confirmed cases) and, deaths have followed suit, with 19 additional people dying. 

Top left: Confirmed Covid-19 cases. Top right: Confirmed Covid-19 cases adjusted for population size. Bottom left: Confirmed Covid-19 Deaths. Bottom right: Confirmed Covid-19 Deaths adjusted for population size. All graphs show cumulative cases from 03/01/2020 – 10/23/2020. Data Sources: Data for Counties in the U.P. are from michigan.gov, Data for Washington D.C. are from coronavirus.dc.gov/data. Data for New York, New York are from github.com/CSSEGISandData. All data were accessed on October 23rd, 2020. Population sizes for each county and city were from Google.

I want more than anything to spend time with my family over the holidays this year. I had plans to work with my dad and brother to convert the Kubota into a Zamboni to make an ice rink on the lake. I was looking forward to having a few beers at the Upper Hand Brewery and eating Mueller’s pizza with my whole family. I know you all want what I do, to have a sense of normalcy in what has been a chaotic year.

 Unfortunately, if cases continue to rise as they have been for the past few months, I’ll be making the emotional and challenging choice to stay in Washington D.C. for the holidays. I’m okay with two empty chairs this year if it means that everyone in my family will be around the kitchen table for the holidays next year and the year after that. I’m asking all of you to make similar choices so that others don’t have empty seats at their table forever. Keep your gatherings small, wear your mask, practice social distancing, and have a safe holiday season!