How I Committed to Celebrating Even in Crisis This Year

Social distancing hasn’t replaced our need for socializing. “How We Gather Now” is Apartment Therapy’s look at how we’re finding safe new ways to get together in 2020, presented in partnership with Absolut Juice. We’ve heard about the simple joys of the front porch; focusing on what you can do; and “discovering” a new spot in your home. Now, Kari connects to celebrate even amidst crisis…

This has been one heck of a year.

All bad? Nah. All great? Nope. Intense? Absolutely.

It isn’t what I signed up for. But in the midst of all the challenges, 2020 has also been a year of learning and unlearning and expansion. It has been a season of transition.

I transitioned from 39 to 40 a few weeks ago. My son just turned seven. I transitioned from married to divorced; from being in a two-parent household to becoming a single mother. An expat for 12 years now, I completed the first year of my second business registered in another country. I survived teaching my son in a foreign language I don’t know, in an accent that makes him laugh his socks off, while we spent months locked together in a remote setting.

The changes in my life and in the world around me show me that life must be lived. I am reminded that, even in my toughest moments, I get to do life. And even more importantly, I get to do life with others. I am truly not alone, even when I am physically distant from loved ones.

So, friends, I’m finding ways to re-think old notions of gathering. I’m planning a series of celebrations of growth and entry into a new season: a season whose time has come.

I’m taking my son to the beach to snorkel, eat delicious food, and celebrate our birthdays — and to show him that our new beginning promises lots of fun in our new family. Then I’m going to observe my new status with an adult-only girlie sunset cocktail gathering by the beach.

On the menu is a new drink for a new season: the ripe fruit flavor of Absolut Juice mixed with homemade limeade, sparkling water, and fresh mint from my garden. I’ll sip it again in an online gathering for those who can’t with me in person.

May this new season bless us all with strength, sweetness, enough sour to balance the sweet, and the freshness of mint to soothe every storm. Cheers.