Our family still has days when losing Matt’s dad hurts a lot. I heard a quote once that said, “Just because we carry it well doesn’t mean it is not heavy” and I think this is very true for our family.
Two and half months later, we are now sitting in forced quarantine in a hotel in Sydney. We had plans to leave Palu in May, but like everyone in the world, coronavirus changed our plans. So, we began packing up our lives again getting ready to leave early, while preparing to stay just in case we couldn’t make it out. It was an even crazier rollercoaster ride than we usually have with our unpredictable lives.
This was one of our hardest goodbyes. A few of our friends got sick in the last few days and, to protect our travel plans, we decided it was best to stay away from each other. So, our goodbyes were only with a few families, from a distance and with no farewell hugs. Leaving another dog behind hurt more than we expected. When we arrived at the airport we did not know if we were allowed to leave or not, in addition my mobile phone randomly died, so there was a lot of stress which didn’t help with our already emotional state. Palu snuck into our hearts in a way we did not expect. Layla spent one flight home crying until I told her she was not allowed to cry anymore in case people in Jakarta saw her red face and eyes and thought she was sick and stopped us from boarding our next flight. (Mom of the year award!)
Arriving in Sydney felt like arriving in a foreign land, there were no familiar faces to greet us. Over 4 hours, military, police, airport security and healthcare professionals processed us and put us on a bus to a hotel for 14 days of quarantine. We have no fears for the future because uncertainty is nothing new for us, and God has never failed us yet. We trust in Him and look forward to seeing what is around the next corner.
Vasanthy
Arm bands, covid hotel room, covid
