12 a trip to remember

-Are you kidding me?? Just come home already!!

Luke screams angrily into his phone as he pulls into the driveway of his house.

-I don't care if you're a "High-Risk!" You're already vaccinated!! Just come home Sara!

-Ok Fine!! Stay in Denver! WHO GIVES A FUCK that we haven't seen each other in a YEAR!!

Without much luck in winning his argument, Luke ends his phone call in utter frustration. He has had enough! Ever since the start of the pandemic, his fiancé Sara has been away from home dealing with COVID patients at a major hospital up in Denver as a volunteer nurse due to the overwhelming amount of cases throughout the state. The local hospital where she worked at in Colorado Springs looked for voluntary First Responders, RNs, and Doctors willing to travel to Denver to deal with the surge of cases during the spring and summer of 2020. Luke was initially supportive of his fiancé Sara's decision to be a volunteer RN in the COVID ward at the hospital. He's grateful for her time and service doing her best to save as many lives as possible.

Unfortunately, her heroic service came with the price of damaging the relationship between them. Due to the nature of the job, Sara was not comfortable coming back home to him or her family. With people dying everyday from the deadly virus right before her eyes, she developed a sense of paranoia and fear that she could accidentally transmit the virus to her loved ones. For months, Luke has tried to convince her to come home on her limited days off for a visit. He reminds her that she must do frequent tests and show a negative result in order for her to report for duty. She does all the necessary precautions with washing her hands, social distancing, and wearing a mask. She stays in quarantine with several colleagues from her hospital, sharing a temporary apartment lease up in Denver. Sara has even received her vaccine in the early stages of the mass distribution due to the nature of her job! Luke reminds her of all of these things, yet she still lives in fear. Sara has not left Denver to visit home in Colorado Springs since the spring!

In present day February 2021, Luke and Sara have made things work through phone calls, FaceTime, and texting. They were supposed to get married in the fall of 2020 but had to put their wedding on an indefinite hold due to the pandemic. Luke and Sara have been in a tough spot for most of her time spent up in Denver. There's been a lot of stress, arguments, and sadness between the both of them. The only reason they've stayed together is because they know the issues are there because of not being physically together. They both hang on to the hope that things will get better in the near future.

Luke steps out of his car after returning home from work. Around the start of the pandemic, his apartment lease ended and he made the tough decision to return back to his family home to save money. Being in his mid-twenties, he had already moved out and lived on his own at the start of his college years. Luke is a personal trainer and fitness coach, but got laid off after his gym was shut down once most businesses went into lockdown. He found a temporary job working for a parcel delivery company. The money is good, but it's not what he ever envisioned himself doing. The one thing that helps him get through each difficult day is the fact that he knows he's not alone. Many others just like him had to make tough decisions and sacrifices to make ends meet. It was just the nature of dealing with a worldwide crisis. Luke makes his way inside the house where his parents are seated in the dining room, waiting for him to commence dinner.

-Hey honey! How was work?

Luke's mother Lisa asks.

-Same old, same old. Just really annoyed right now ma.

-Did you talk to Sara?

-Yeah.

-Still scared to come home, huh?

Luke's father Henry asks him.

-Yup. Even though she's already vaccinated and stays in quarantine when not at the hospital. It's insane! She's less than a two hour drive away from here and we haven't been together in almost a year!

Luke says angrily.

Both of Luke's parents try to calm him down and reassure him that things are going to get better, sooner than later. Luke can only hope for the best.

After dinner, Luke heads up to his bedroom to undress and wind down. He takes a long, hot shower and gets out feeling refreshed and in a better mood. That is until he takes a good look at himself in the mirror. Being a personal trainer, he always admired his athletic body. Broad shoulders, big chest, clean cut abs. After the lockdown though, he slacked off and lost progress. He fell into a depressive state, coming home too tired from his temporary job to even do a workout from home. He gained some weight from having too many cheat days each week, eating his favorite comfort foods. When he did do some workouts at home, he struggled to do some of the same routines he could easily do at the gym when he was training others. Luke could see his lost progress in the mirror with his abs no longer visible. He isn't fat or out of shape. He now just has an average looking fit body. A body he feels no longer fits the look of a bodybuilder.

To take his mind off his self image and negativity, Luke heads downstairs to the living room. Since he moved back home to his parent's house, they all have a tradition of binge watching shows on a streaming service. Sure enough, his dad has the remote with the television set up on the main menu. His mom is in the kitchen prepping some popcorn in the microwave.

-Just in time!

Henry says with a chuckle.

-Wait for me!

Lisa shouts from the kitchen.

The family watches a few episodes of a crime thriller series they're all heavily invested in. Just as Henry shuts off the television, Lisa's phone rings.

-Hello? ....Hey momma!

Lisa says, speaking to her mother Kathy over the phone.

Luke is reminded almost immediately that he's flying over the weekend to California to help his grandmother Kathy move out to his hometown in Colorado. After living more than five years alone since her husband passed away, Kathy and Lisa decided it would be best for her to move to Colorado Springs to be close to the family. Originally, Luke's grandmother was supposed to move out to Colorado last Spring. Due to the pandemic, Luke's family told her to hold off and stay in quarantine for her safety. It was only after Kathy was able to receive her vaccine that her daughter Lisa helped her put her home on the market about a month prior. After a few weeks, Kathy had a buyer and sold her home.

The plan now is for Luke to fly over to California to pick up his grandmother and drive the entire weekend back to his home in Colorado. Kathy will live with the family temporarily as they find her a small home in a retirement-friendly neighborhood. Kathy had movers come and pack up all her belongings for her. Most of her belongings would go into storage until she's ready to move into her new home. All Luke needs to do is help her drive her car on the long road trip from Sacramento to Colorado Springs.

Luke agreed to help his grandmother out after his parents had asked him to. How could he say no? His parents have been a tremendous blessing on him since he's moved back home. He doesn't pay any rent. All his parents ask is for him to help pay for groceries. As an only child, Luke has been spoiled most of his life with his parents supporting him in any way possible. The least he could do is show his gratitude for their love and support by helping them with anything they needed. Luke actually looked forward to his road trip with his grandmother. It would be a nice, scenic drive crossing the country through some beautiful states. He also has not seen his grandmother Kathy in over a year since before the pandemic. He missed having her over for the holidays and visiting her whenever he could.

After Luke's mother Lisa hangs up the phone, she looks over to him.

-Your grandma says hi and she can't wait to see you this weekend. She'll be at the airport on Friday afternoon when you land.

-Sounds good ma!

Luke says with a smile.

He excuses himself from the living room and heads up to his room to get some rest. He had work early in the morning.