EOY 2020

This post consists of three images: two scans of our 2020 end-of-year card, and one surprise at the bottom. I have used alt-text fields to describe the photographs and transcribe any text for accessibility purposes. Screen readers should correctly handle this, but if you encounter issues, email me at [email protected].

Front of card.
Distant, yet Merry
<3 Gary, Hampton, & Tegan
[Photo: Hampton, Tegan, and Gary smiling on the couch in our apartment.]
[Photo diptych: L, the marker of the Southernmost Point in the Continental USA in Key West, FL, with the Caribbean Sea behind it; R, the Ilanaaq Inukshuk at English Bay Beach in Vancouver, BC, with Kitsilano and the Pacific Ocean behind it.]
Wishing y'all a safe, healthy, and uniquely cosy Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, & Blessed 2021
Back of card.
[Photo: Gary & Hampton at a Bernie Sanders rally in Las Vegas in February, with Bernie circled.]
2020 has taken us from one corner of North America to the other! We started the new year in North Carolina, meandered down til we reached the Florida Keys (pictured on front), then finished our road trip by exploring the Southwest and Vegas. We even got to show some love to good ole Bernie (pictured left)! As soon as we landed back in Oakland and Gary left for his new job at Rivian in Vancouver, COVID-19 shut everything down, and Hampton came up to join him. 
[Photo: Crown Mountain behind Stanley Park in Vancouver, as seen from our first apartment here.]
It has been a year of learning to adjust in the wake of major changes and uncertainty. You all know what we're talking about! What would we do if we couldn't take it one day at a time? Gary has now adjusted to an entirely home-based job, Hampton has found projects galore during pandemic-induced unemployment, and Teegs has embraced her floof in the chillier days up here in Canada. Despite the dark times we're all living through, we're grateful to be together and have each other. Above all, we've learned one big life lesson: even when things are scarier than you knew possible, you'll always have love.
[Photo: Tegan, Gary, and Hampton (masked) at Bridal Falls.]
We're also grateful to be married throughout all of this. Yes, you read that right—we're married! It was an early decision we made to ensure that nothing could separate us...and, boy, did that prove to be prescient now in an era of closed borders! With 2020 and all its shockers, it seems like a befitting year to add a good ole international elope story into the mix. As we settle into a new city and ready to decorate for the season, we wish we were with you all. We miss the hugs, the full-faced connecting and warmth in your smiles, and simply being together. We can't wait for some of that again. Until then, may you stay safe, be kind to each other, and take it one day at a time!
Photo: Our 2020 Christmas tree, decorated with our combined ornament heritage, surrounded by presents. It is flanked with red poinsettias, and two Green New Deal posters frame the bay window the tree stands in front of. A stained-glass inclusive pride flag is on the window behind it. Tegan is sitting in her bed, with one paw over the side.
Bonus content: Our fully decorated 2020 Christmas extravaganza.

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