My family had planned for my grandparents to join us for Thanksgiving. My parents, grandparents, and I have been quarantining, and it would've been great to see them. 1/

But my brother is coming home from grad school, and though he will also have quarantined and gotten tested several times, his girlfriend will have been going to work and only quarantined one week prior. 2/

We suggested my grandparents come and my brother/his gf spend the entire evening outside on the deck so at least we could see each other, but my grandma says it'll be too hard to hear them and the whole point of coming is to see us. 3/

So she told us she and my grandpa will just skip it, and they'll Zoom in from home. My brother and I will visit them another time and we'll all sit distanced on their lawn, where we can be safer. 4/

Both of my grandparents have significant risk factors, especially my grandma, who has a heart condition. They're in great shape, but... 5/

In the words of my grandma, "there's a vaccine coming, and we expect to be around long enough to be able to get it. We'll have next year." 6/

Families need to make really tough decisions this year, and it can be painful. It's been a rough year for all of us. But there's a light at the end of the tunnel, and we'll get there sooner if we all just cooperate. Pls wear a mask and keep an appropriate distance from others. 7/

I know it's unpleasant sometimes, but it's the only way we may be able to have a somewhat normal Thanksgiving next year.

It's just one year. We can do it.

/End.