My family recently had an experience that I think can safely be classified as a Major Bummer. Both of my kids had qualified for a state-level activity that involved a week-long summer camp where they would have the opportunity to train with top-level instructors and spend a lot of time making new friends and honing their skills. Unfortunately, when it was time to go, one of them had minor symptoms of illness.

While fortunately all home COVID testing has remained negative in our household, the organizers nevertheless made the difficult (but correct, in my opinion) decision per their policy, and erred on the side of caution. The symptomatic kid wasn’t allowed to attend camp; the asymptomatic one was.

I’m sure you can imagine how fraught such a situation could be, especially when there are twins involved. The non-participant kid had an especially hard time of it at the end, when families were invited in to watch the end-of-week performance, and she had to witness exactly what she’d missed. I don’t think it had really hit her fully until then.

However, there was still a bit of a silver lining.

For a couple of years now, my kids and I have been planning for them to join me in attending Gallifrey One during their last year of high school (which is not this coming school year, but the year following). However, part of qualifying for the aforementioned all-state event is participating in another full event over a long weekend in February which is (you guessed it!) the same weekend as Gally. That means if they wanted to try out for their all-state opportunity again next year, they’d have to choose between the two.

Reasoning that she could try again next year for the opportunity she’d missed this time around, symptomatic kid decided she should go to Gally with me this year (that is, six months from now) instead. (Whether or not asymptomatic kid attends Gally with me the following year or goes for the other option again is still up in the air.) That means I have to adjust my plans!

I have to admit I’m excited about this turn of events. Even though my brain usually steers like an ocean liner (that is, it takes a ridiculously long time to change direction, especially if it’s already headed somewhere full speed—suffice to say I don’t like surprises), there is enough lead time here for me to take the change in stride. Getting the rooming situation is stressing me out (going from four bodies to house to five does throw a wrench in the works), but generally speaking, I think this will be great fun.

Among other things, I’m looking forward to showing my kiddo the fabulous fan culture at Gally (and showing off my fabulous kiddo to my Gally peeps). We’ve done brief stints at a couple of local cons, but none of them have involved staying overnight in the hotel—nor are they the sheer powerhouse of Who fandom that Gally is.

I think my excitement will only heighten as the months continue and more guest announcements are made. Even with only the first round, kiddo is looking forward to meeting folks, and they haven’t even gotten close to announcing modern era guests yet. Being able to share this experience with a family member is something that will make it all the richer, and I can hardly wait.

So while I’m bummed that one of my kids had to experience such a big disappointment recently, I’ve got to say that I’m loving the silver lining. I plan to keep sharing the shine with you readers in the coming months. Better wear your shades.