Lobo Rebello Christmas Family Update 2020

Dear friends and loved ones,

Anything is possible, even the impossible.

2020 proved this right. What an aberrant year it was, so unexpected and utterly unbelievable. A virus came and took us hostage, built invisible walls that separated us from each other and savagely took away loved ones. It was a year where everything was different and yet we couldn't really pause because the business of life carried on. In time we found a way circumventing through the  monotony, the isolation, the paranoia, the frustration. Some of us trusted the science and followed the guidance, while some of us didn't and added to the frustration of those who did. The months passed, we celebrated lockdown birthdays and anniversaries, we expertly home schooled, and navigated new ways of working. We endured, we innovated and dipped deep into our indomitable spirit, grit and resilience. Yes, there were times we did lose our sanity but for the most part we survived pretty damn well. And believe it or not amidst all the gloom of the pandemic good things also did happen. Let's start with some of that.

In Feb my parents celebrated their golden anniversary. We had a beautiful celebration in our home in Mangalore, made all the more memorable by the release of my dad's Memoir Happy Accidents and Lucky Incidents: The Story of my Life. It was an evening to celebrate, not only their love and commitment for one another but also pay tribute to them as parents. As Manoj and I reiterated at the toast we raised to them that evening," Because of how they brought us up, because we watched them be who they are, we are able to be better human beings, better parents, better spouses." And as for my Dad's Memoir, this record of his life and our early childhood, it is one of the most precious gifts a child can receive.

We got back from India after the celebration and went straight into lockdown and the rest my friends is history! Gerard and I have probably never been more thankful that we had 4 kids. They were great company for each other through months of isolation and sheltering in place and we were glad for the noise and laughter they filled with home with. Some of our lockdown and other highlights from2020:

🍳Cooking took on new meaning. We joined recipe groups, competed in cookouts, baked, barbequed, blanched and braised. Proudly everyone in the house is now a certified chef.

If you ask us our top three sources of entertainment this year, we would all unanimously say Taliya, Tik Tok and TV. While we spent hours mollycoddling our dog, those 15 second videos on TikTok kept us amused for hours on end. Liraya would often share some interesting, often educational fact with us and when we asked where she found this out she would nonchalantly reply "from TikTok". We also unashamedly binged on television series, watched re runs of Friends, did a Marvel marathon and spent weekends watching other movies back to back. 

Arhantika has had a big year. She turned 21 and graduated from university. We had all been eagerly awaiting these milestones but thanks to the 'C we shall not name', all plans had to be put on hold. She was very dejected that her three years at Cardiff ended in such an abrupt and unexpected fashion. And then, like so many graduates of 2020 the immediate future was suddenly a big question mark and riddled with uncertainty. Luckily we were able to get her back to Rome just before the borders closed, but she soon got very bored and at times depressed. Unlike the rest of us who quite easily settled into lockdown life, she was having none of the 'bake bread and stay calm' quarantine coping advise she was getting. She was restless to get on with the next chapter in her life and relentlessly kept applying to jobs and internships, while also working at turning her final university project, an online digital magazine QUAKE into a platform for creatives to share their work, a place where youth across the globe can connect, express and tell their stories. Her efforts paid off and she got a photography internship with a company in London. At the same time she also decided that maybe it would be best for her to use the next year to do a Masters and we wholeheartedly supported the idea. And so, she moved to London and began another chapter. She is loving the London life in spite of the many restrictions (which she claims she is religiously adhering to) and spends her week days immersed in online classes and assignments for her Masters in Education, International Development and Social Justice and weekends doing shoots and expanding her creative network. And when it all gets too much as it sometimes does, she comes home for a few days and after a lot of TLC and home made food, goes back refreshed and ready to meet the coming weeks. 

Ryeika, believe it or not is getting ready to fly the  nest. She turned 17 this year and remains perky, calm and unfazed in spite of the heavy demands of the final year of IB. Her personal statements are done, university applications submitted and now we w

"The sculpture is one of the strongest and most striking pieces 

ever seen from a student." , IB Art Teacher St. Georges

ait and treasure the next few months, while trying not to dwell on the immense void she will leave in our home when university beckons. Over the last two years having taken art as one of her IB subjects, she has produced some amazing paintings and sculptures, some of which we are sharing here.

 

Neeira turned 15 this year. She keeps us laughing with her unobtrusive cheekiness and humorous banter, while also somehow managing to keep us all in line. Her interests are varied, from Bollywood to aerospace, she is teaching herself Hindi after lamenting for years that we haven't seriously taught it to her and can make a mean chicken tikka biryani. An avid travel enthusiast, she was quite despondent we had to cancel all travel plans over the summer but didn't quite give up on the idea. In August she seeded the idea of us driving to Slovenia for a few days and after confirming that indeed they had almost no new cases of C we set off to discover this amazing little country and its mountains, glacial lakes, beaches and medieval castles.

Liraya turned 11 and had what some are terming a quarantine growth spurt. She spent the year mastering sewing (made us all masks), invested her pocket money on Procreate, and is now a budding Graphic Artist. A real busy bee, we have rarely heard Liraya say she is bored. At any given time she has a project at hand. She also celebrated an important milestone in May, her First Holy communion. Though very disappointed her grandparents, uncle and cousins couldn't come as planned, she was excited to receive Jesus in her heart at a beautiful intimate ceremony at the Irish College in Rome.

As for Taliya, you will be glad to know that this year she has not swallowed any socks, nor has she had any elevator mishaps. In fact she has had a pretty great year and is doggie  petitioning for WFH to be extended indefinitely. She has so enjoyed the 24/7 fuss and company, we are seriously afraid of how she will survive when things go back to normal and we have to leave her alone for periods at a time.

One of Gerard's DIY projects

At the start of the pandemic work was very busy for Gerard. But as things settled down and the summer bore down on us, evenings and weekends were spent cooking, singing along to Carlton's Jukebox Jammies or crooning Karoke superhits late into the night. When he wasn't singing he was DIYing and if not singing or DIYing you could bet there was a football match on (and if you heard screaming you could bet further that ManU was playing). Gerard also quite enjoyed setting up virtual quizzes and  games to feel connected to family who we might otherwise have physically met over the year.
 

As for me, though it was definitely a weird year, I found myself quite liking the slow unhurried pace. Between work and the family, our days are never dull in any case. All the people I cared about were always a call away and we spoke often, boosting each other, lamenting together, sharing laughs and worries. I loved that the official dress code for 2020 was athleisure and that dressing up meant throwing on a nice top over whatever was on down or for the rare outdoor outing a comfortable pair of jeans. There were of course many things I missed doing and people I missed seeing. The worst was the constant fear of something happening to our parents and us not being able to go. Otherwise really, the year seemed to just fly by in an endless loop of everyday routine. But yes, something pretty extraordinary did happen in the last months that sparked our spirits...you guessed right, The Nobel Peace Prize!  

Indeed, the year ended on a pretty high note with WFP winning the Nobel Peace Prize for its efforts to combat hunger, its contribution to better the conditions for peace in conflict-affected areas, and efforts at preventing the use of hunger as a weapon of war and conflict. We are so very proud and humbled to share this award with our colleagues and to have worked in some of these areas over the last 17 years. Our WFP journey has been a journey that we have taken as a family and this validation is special and important for our children as well, as it has not always been easy for them with the many moves, making new friends and being separated from Gerard for long periods. As it is with so many WFP families, we haven't been always able to chart out our lives or the path ahead. We go where the work takes us, and over time we have come to accept, enjoy and even dare I say love the feeling of not knowing exactly where next our path is going to lead. A quote from one of my favourite authors, a leading female Thinker and Writer C. JoyBell C. perfectly sums  up our sentiments, "[We] have come to accept the feeling of not knowing where we are going [next]. And we have trained ourselves to love it. Because it is only when we are suspended in mid-air with no landing in sight, that we force our wings to unravel and alas begin our flight. And as we fly, we still may not know where we are going to, but we know that so long as we spread our wings, the winds will carry us.” No doubts, it has been a rewarding journey, one which continues to challenge us and we look forward to many more years of flying with WFP and the adventures that lie ahead #saving lives, changing lives. 

We knew that Christmas this year would be strange and different. We were prepared to be back in strict lockdown for the Christmas period but we were grateful that at least all six of us would be together and that was what was important. However Arhantika got stuck in London after Italy halted flights from the UK and we are all crestfallen. Thankfully one of her friends immediately invited her to spend Christmas at her family's home in Bristol. We are so grateful  to the Nowell family who in the true spirit of Christmas opened up their home to her, something not many would do in COVID times. 

And so we will usher in another Christmas, and while our hearts are a little despondent and we will miss Arhantika and our parents and family far away so very much, we will gather around Zoom and muster up some Christmas cheer. We will also fondly remember all the Christmases past and the merriment, the caroling and the togetherness we have shared with family and friends in our home in Abuja, Addis, Bangalore and Rome. And tonight, in the quiet holiness of Christmas Eve, when we gather in front of our fireplace to read aloud the story of that First Christmas as is our family tradition, we will also say a prayer for all of you and give thanks for the gifts of love and friendship we share.  We will also pray specially for all those who are on the frontlines, including our very own COVID warrior, my dear sister in law Rana Shenoy, who has since the start of this pandemic been at the forefront. It's the many like her who we have to be so grateful for this year.

As 2020 ends and we reflect on the complicated year we have had and the uncertainties that continue to loom ahead, let us find strength, hope and love in the story of Christmas and in God's relentless love for us. Let us lean into the three dormant strengths Reflection, Resilience and Resourcefulness that are inherent in all of us and let us allow the beautiful interplay between these three qualities that so superbly complement one another to help us navigate these hard times. 

To be honest, I could write on and fill a few more pages as there are so many more things to reflect on, emotions to share and anecdotes to recount, considering the bizarre year we have had. But I will leave those for another time and sign off now with wishes for a blessed Christmas and hopes that in 2021 we might get back all we temporarily lost and missed like travel, hugs, happy hours and ice cream in a cone. Lets wish for a 2021 in which everything will be fine. It maybe a totally different kind of fine, different from what we hoped for, dreamed of, wanted...but we have to believe that everything will be fine. Andrà tutto bene! 

Warm hugs, much love and many blessings....

Sanchita and her gang- Gerard, Arhantika, Ryeika, Neeira, Liraya and Taliya

P.S. This one's for all our fellow carolers....Sing along with us

©Lobo Rebello Christmas Family Update- Published every year since 2006