Thankful

I’m back from being thankful with the family (just the 4 of us – no super-spreading here) at the NC coast – and thankful we got the chance to unplug and just be with all my little mermaids (3rd pic shows 4 years of family tradition: beach for thanksgiving)

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You may end up seeing the little one (Winter) in a carrier or laying down on a call (weve got the chest and the shoulder one thanks to grandparent generosity)

We end up doing a lot of juggling of Winter and her older sister (5 year old) Nora because we have to be extra careful in the pandemic and keep Winter as protected as possible because she spent the first 4 months of her life in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit – seeing ones child on a ventilator isn’t something I wish on anyone.

A year ago at this time we didnt know we were on the path we were, to a 3 month premature baby, and the chaos it would create in our lives, the risk it would pose both to my Wife Abby and our daughter Winter but I must emphasize everyone is safe now – and that is something for which we are incredibly grateful.

I also need to express my gratitude to IBM both for the paycheck and the health care coverage (insurance should be covering the ~750K sticker price hospital bill) but also for the empathy and understanding of my managers at the time Alex (and Patti and Anshul) stepping up to give me the freedom to take care of family with manager discretionary leave above and beyond the existing parental care leave

The impact does continue, we pulled Nora out of kindergarten to help protect her sister and we end up juggling a lot between us for the kids because of it, but Nora has been resilient. From the sudden disappearance of mommy and daddy last Christmas to a baby in the NICU to understanding why no more school or baby sitters, why we need shots and masks. She’s a little hero.

So for the fortune, safety, support and empathy we’ve already received I am very grateful, and for your future patience and indulgence with response times, background noise and out of office times with use of IBMs various care time offs, thank you all!