We have about one more month with “Spanish daughter #3”.  She’s had a year filled with family, friends, school, trips, sports and pets.  While the last bit has been admittedly very different than any of us imagined, she has gamely gone along with it all. 

On other Memorial Day weekends, I’ve tried to do something special with the exchange students.  My first year as coordinator (and host mom), we went as a group to the Cape.  Last year, I took just Spanish daughter #2 and most of my family “moosing” in Maine.  This year, my master schedule called for camping with the 13 great students who were here.

But, now there are only five left, and one is about to leave this coming week.  Campgrounds are still closed, and sleeping in a tent together doesn’t seem like a great plan either.  Today was bugging me. 

So we started the day together doing rabbit and chicken chores.  She can’t have any pets at home, and actually begged to have the rabbits and chickens be her responsibility. Since we needed to do a bit more cleaning, we did it together. 

After that, she said she had nothing else planned (because, ummmm, who does?).  So she was game for helping with recycling, trash and watering flowers.  I needed to run a few errands; she happily came along for those, too. 

I was still mentally running over what my original plans had been for this holiday weekend.  I even apologized for doing such boring stuff.  

She didn’t miss a beat.  “I like doing all these things.  Really.  I’m serious,” she continued as I looked sideways at her.

“Because of the quarantine, I have had a lot more time with the family—and the rabbits and the chickens and the dogs. It’s still been the best year of my life.”

My silver lining?  Having a Spanish daughter with such a fantastic outlook, even under some rather extraordinary circumstances.