 FEBRUARY 4 • 2021 | 15

CREATING MEMORIES
Jodi Fox McDonald’s family did 
not have to move in with her 
parents, Leah and Jeff Fox, when 
the pandemic hit. They were 
already there. They came for a 
planned, short stay after their 
home sold quickly and they 
were searching for a new one.
“We moved in with them in 
December 2019 — with our 
daughters, Kemper, who was 
not quite 2, and 3-month-old 
Talia; and a very large German 
Shepherd, all 130 lbs. of him 
— in hopes that things would 
go up in February or March,” 
Jodi said. “We thought we 
would be there three-to-four 
months tops.”
So sure they would move by 
springtime, she said, “
All the 
kids’ summer clothes went with 
the furniture into storage. We 
looked, but there was nothing. 
We even put flyers in mailbox-
es in our parents’ sub to see if 
we could get a house before it 
went up because they were few 

and far between. Then, slowly, 
houses started to trickle in 
during the late summer.”
Nine months later, Jodi, 
36, and Paul, 41, and their 
children finally moved into 
their new house, a mile from 
her parents’ West Bloomfield 
home, taking with them mem-
ories they never could have 
imagined making.
“Looking back, that crazy 
decision was the best decision 
we ever made,” Jodi said. “We 
were able to be with my par-
ents through this scary time 
with so many unknowns. It 
also gave Paul and me some 
adults to be around and 
socialize with without a 6-foot 
distance and masks. And my 
parents could embrace our 
kids the way they could not 
with the other grandchildren, 
which I know was and is so 
hard for them.” 
She said her sisters often 
stopped by with their families, 
but stayed outside, coming 

“for socially distanced visits, 
meals and even water balloon 
fights.” 
Paul referred to the time 
with his in-laws as, “a great 
experience.” 
“
As attorneys with busy 
schedules, we got to spend 
more time with our kids than 
we ever would have but for 
the shelter-in-place, and we 
were glad to have the sup-
port and help from Leah and 
Jeff,” he said. “Our kids got 
to spend so much more time 
with Grandma and Papa than 
they ever would have. We had 
dinner together as a family, 
with a couple of exceptions, 
every single night. While we 
could not be happier to be in 
our new home, we will never 
forget the time we spent with 
Jodi’s parents during what will 
surely be one of the craziest 
years of our lives.” 
Not only did the McDonalds 
move into the house where Jodi 
grew up, she said, “Paul and I 
were in my old bedroom.” She 
added, “But, we actually took 
over every room in the house.” 
 
 Both also used space to work 
remotely. “Paul and I would 
rotate shifts with the kids and 
work, and then both work when 
the kids went to bed,” Jodi 
said. “It was not always easy 
making sure Balto, the dog, 
was not barking or a kid wasn’t 
running into our office or bed-
room when we were taking a 
deposition or in a court hearing 
on Zoom,” Jodi said.
Now that they have moved 
into their new home, the 
McDonalds are back to the life 
experienced by many whose 
family members live in sepa-
rate homes. “We only see my 
parents with masks when we 
are socially distanced, outside. 
We have celebrated holidays, 

birthdays, bat mitzvahs on 
the driveway or in a garage 
to make sure we could all be 
together. We have, what we 
call ‘the quarantine window,’ 
in our house, because every-
one can come up and talk 
through the glass.”
Jodi said because of the 
opportunity to be with her 
parents and not settle for a 
home that wasn’t their first 
choice, they were able to buy 
their dream house. 
“We do miss my parents, 
and Kemper still asks some-
times to go to her ‘home’ at 
Grandpa and Papa’s, but we 
love our new house and can-
not wait to create new memo-
ries here,” she said.
Jodi’s mom refers to the 
time the families lived togeth-
er as “nine months of chaos 
and love.” 
“In one of the scariest times 
in all of our lives, we were 
lucky enough to be distracted 
by having our granddaugh-
ters running into our room 
in the morning to snuggle 
in bed, giving us hugs and 
kisses, when we sadly couldn’t 
embrace the other grandchil-
dren, which was devastating,” 
Leah Fox said. “We got to 
watch milestones like first 
words, crawling, first steps 
and potty training. We looked 
forward to our daily dinners. 
I would dance with the girls 
around the house, and Jeff 
finally had someone in the 
house to watch sports with.
“Our friends thought we 
were crazy at first, but after 
COVID struck, those thoughts 
turned into thinking how 
lucky we were to be with at 
least part of the family without 
masks and social distancing.
“It was nine months at the 
perfect time.” 

