Away from home

It’s been months since my last post, so I was planning to sit down and write a post about how we’re using podman and ostree in my work. But, as I sat down, I realized that I just can’t write about that right now.

This month has been difficult on many levels. Here in Ireland, as in much of the world, we’re unable to leave our homes except to buy necessities and exercise (within a 2km radius of our home). We’ve lived in Ireland for almost two years now, and it has become home for us. I’ve worked remotely before and normally enjoy the quiet of working from home, but, given our current circumstances, I just want to leave.

You see, nine days ago, Kristina Dieter, my sister-in-law, passed away from cancer. She was 37. She married my brother, Jason, when they were both nineteen and next year would have been their 20th anniversary. She was an amazing sister-in-law, did an incredible job of raising their four kids (though I suppose my brother gets credit for that too), and was a light of encouragement to those around her. There’s so much more that I could say, but I think it’s best to just link to what my brother wrote on Instagram.

At a time like this, I just want to be home, where my family is. I can’t. Traveling back to the States would be exposing my family there and my family here to danger. So, at this point, all I can do is pray and grieve here, at home and yet so far from it. And cling to the promise that “God himself will be with them. He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.”