Julie's Jukes: A bittersweet holiday break

This holiday break was very much needed. I can't describe to you the amount of stress I endured in the fall semester.

Having time off is incredibly important. I took advantage of my time by making sure I took a few days to do nothing but rest and relax.

However, I was very busy over my holiday break. My parents hosted our family Christmas at their house this year, which means we spent the weeks before Christmas doing a mass cleaning of the house.

My family from Georgia and Wisconsin came for Christmas and it was really nice. We took my cousins ice skating, played card games, joked, teased and just had a wonderful time. I had a lot of fun spending time with my family.

Sadly, near the end of the visit there was a 24-hour bug that swept through my household. Thankfully it didn't last long, not everyone in the house got sick, and none of my family from out of state caught the bug.

We had a very relaxed and quiet New Year's Eve where we lazed about at home, watched the ball drop at midnight, then went to bed.

This is where the bitter part of my bittersweet holiday comes in. During the last week of the fall semester, my grandfather passed away after battling with Alzheimer's disease.

This made celebrating the holidays difficult. My family felt the impact of losing him throughout the holiday. We take comfort in knowing that he is no longer suffering.

The other bittersweet part of the holiday break is knowing that it eventually must end. Everyone is going back to work, including me, and I am preparing for the start of the spring semester.

Who knows what 2022 has in store for us (knock on wood)? I just pray it is better than the past couple of years.