COVID 15

The family reunion for summer 2021 had nearly been canceled. Planned months in advance, with plane and Greyhound bargains to Upstate New York secured by January most years, the reunion was not often a spur of the moment thing. Yet in the second year of the pandemic, with cases peaking in January, it had been called off - and then, at the very last minute, called back on.

Aside from securing my plane and bus tickets at a premium last minute rate, I also had to deal with packing. With my COVID weight gain, I was carrying extra pounds for the first time since I lost weight and got in shape a decade prior. Much as I missed my extended family, I didn’t want them to see me like this - overweight, just like I was in my teens and 20s, the great shape that dominated the whole decade of my 30s washed away like flowers in a flood.

I had upsized my wardrobe so that everything would not look ridiculously tight. And I had read everything I could about healthy aging, healthy body attitudes, reasonable and sustainable approaches to improving nutrition. I was including vegetables, strength training, even trying to run, though my heart rate was too high when I did it.

As I finished packing my toothpaste and hairbrush, tampons and sunscreen, I realized there was one item I had forgotten to replace with a larger size - my swimsuit.

I showed up anyway to the reunion and immediately forgot about my stomach the moment I arrived. I was too busy setting up the tables, laying out the old family albums and an array of games.

But the pictures of me wearing a blue bikini two sizes too small will languish in family albums forever.