We’re taking Joe to the East coast for the first time next week, eeeek! To my parents’ house in Virginia, to meet his Brunstetter cousins and aunts and uncles. I haven’t seen my brothers in almost two years and it just ain’t right. I need to laugh with them, I need us to laugh at each other, I need Joe in their arms, I need Joe in a boat. I’m consciously allowing my excitement for the trip to eclipse any worry about the Delta variant. We’ve spent the pandemic being cautious when necessary, trying to keep up with the ever-shifting science, but also trusting our own intuition as humans and parents, and trusting that everything will be okay. I have to, for my sanity. But I can’t keep the variant fully at bay, AS WE ARE FLYING DELTA AIRLINES. The poor flight attendants. Are there jokes? Do they get asked how the airline is enjoying the free press? I think I have to just keep trusting that we will be safe, and that the irony of getting Delta on a Delta flight is too great. Right? RIGHT, SCIENCE? SCIENCE R U THERE?