This year started as the last one ended, with the pandemic still in full swing. Liz worked from home full-time all the way from October 2020 until the end of the summer this year, when she started back in the office 50%. She’s now up to 70% but is actually hoping to still be able to continue to work from home part-time.
In January, Karin moved into a new apartment in Lund. She was still working at Flyinge School. Martin was working at Dominos Pizza in Detroit, still basically hunkered down in quarantine mode. On New Year’s Day, we got the bad news that Anders’ mom, Märta, had tested positive for coronavirus. She had mild symptoms but never fully recovered, then had what seemed to be a mini stroke. She passed away on January 23. It was a hard blow for the whole family, after a year of being apart. She is very much missed.
Anders and Karin spent a week up north in Sweden skiing in the beginning of February, and Liz had a week with the house to herself. All the AWC activities were still on hold, so the only things taking place on Zoom were book groups and the monthly meetings.
Martin was able to get vaccinated for COVID already in March, and Liz and Anders had their shots in June/ July, with Karin following a couple of months later. Now we’re all waiting on boosters, except for Anders who has gotten his already.
In May, Martin started a new job at a different restaurant called The Potato Place, still in Detroit, but with a slightly better salary, and definitely better working hours and manager. He also began firming up his plans to move home to Sweden later in the year.
Karin’s job at Flyinge school ended in June and she applied for university again with plans to start in the fall. However, Axis called her and offered her a 1-year position as Marketing & Events Coordinator for the Nordic Sales team, and she couldn’t say no to that so study plans are again on hold. It took some time for the process to reach a conclusion, but she finally started working for Axis again in July.
We didn’t make any travel plans for the summer, despite having vacation. Anders finished the porch, and continued the work on the garage roof that had started with the acquisition of the solar panels in 2020. Liz and Anders celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary on June 1st with dinner out, and during midsummer week in late June finished off the celebration with a trip to Gotland, just the two of us. 🙂
At the end of August, Martin left Detroit for good, going to stay with Liz’s sister Sarah in North Carolina for 2 weeks, with Liz’s mom, as well, who was also living there, while waiting for her new place to be done. And in mid-September he arrived home in Sweden, after 4 years away! We picked up our new electric car (a Tesla model 3) the same day, so it was quite an exciting day in Flyinge. 😀
So, one kid moved out at the beginning of the year, and one kid moved back home near the end. He’s already found a job in Lund and is figuring out his next steps. Karin is now 22 and Martin will be 24 before the end of the year.
The AWC officially changed its name this year to American International Club and by fall, was able to offer in-person activities again. Liz is still on the board as VP Membership, and fairly active. And the Ek Family Thanksgiving potluck dinner was held again with friends attending, and Martin, which was great fun after having had to cancel it last year.
One of Liz’s New Year’s resolutions was to walk a 5K every month, and so far she has held to her promise, with both Karin and Martin as walking buddies. Only one more to go!
This year feels a little like a wash and rather blurry in hindsight, without a lot of other highlights to touch on. We sure hope that next year will see a more clear return to normal and the possibility to travel to see our family in Germany and the US. We miss everyone! With the holidays looming, we plan to enjoy being together at home this year, and hope that you and yours will also be together, happy, and healthy.
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