faith! - Duane Dunn

Duane Dunn remembers when he first realized that the illness encroaching on the world in 2020 was more than a passing problem. As someone who worked in the healthcare industry with transplant patients, he was privy to studies in early 2020 that were saying, “This isn’t the flu.”

Duane’s oldest son Justin, now 18, also had a friend from China who was studying at Hammond as an exchange student. The child was not able to return home due to travel restrictions. Family members were sick, and they were not sure how contagious the illness was.

“He had family who were sick with COVID before we knew what it was,” Duane said.

Later, when that friend graduated with Justin, Duane recalls how he, Justin, Duane’s husband David and their younger son Jacob, 16, were struck by the young man’s solitude on such an important day. He had no family with whom to celebrate beyond his exchange family and Hammond friends. COVID had prevented his parents from traveling from China to the United States for his graduation.

Looking back on all of this, Duane counts his family’s blessings. Among them are moments that initially did not seem like blessings, but in hindsight, they see the blessings that were there:

● Duane lost his job just before the pandemic began, but the experience forced him into creating his own consulting business, which in turn allowed him to be home for Justin’s senior year more than he ever would have been with his previous work. Duane’s previous job kept him on the road three weeks of every month.

● In response to Duane’s career change, David, who had been the stay-at-home parent, had to go back to work, which shifted the two parents’ roles. Fortunately, David found work with Amazon, and in spite of working full time and often receiving alerts about colleagues who had tested positive for COVID, David never contracted the illness and therefore never realized his worst fear – bringing COVID home. David’s new job also kept the family afloat until Duane’s new business took hold.

● The shutdown also tightened the Dunn-Ray family’s closeness to the Puffenbarger family: Lauren, Chris, Jamison, Hannah Frances and Susan and Bobby Carpenter. They became a bubble and that bubble allowed holidays and special occasions to continue to be noted with friends, though the gatherings were smaller than anyone was accustomed.

● Duane also believes the experience strengthened the vestry on which Duane serves and the community of the parish. “One of the things I’m the most proud of is that the vestry had the wisdom to ensure our clergy were taking care of themselves as well as everyone else. That was really powerful because I think so many times we look to the clergy to take care of us, but here, it was a mutual caring.”

● Technology was another blessing that Duane and David maximized. Their weekly calls to check on David’s parents turned into every-other-day calls. Their family text thread moved into short phone calls instead. “A lot of really good communication came out of it,” Duane said.

● Duane knows that the pandemic gave his family a deeper appreciation for simpler things. Their Thanksgiving tradition of saying something they are thankful for stands out in his memory as a sweet moment. Their two boys both gave thanks for the fact they were all together in spite of everything happening around them.

● Duane also found beauty in the outdoor services at St. Martin’s, remembering the first time he opened his lawn chair and pondered, “Well, do I put the chair in the center of the square or on the side?” He loved the way the service served as a notice to the neighborhood that St. Martin’s was still a worshiping community.

Looking back, Duane realizes this is all a lot to say grace over. He is grateful to be mostly on the other side of it all, and recalls vividly the first time he was back inside St. Martin’s.

“I had not realized how much I missed the smell of the church, the wood, the incense, and to be able to look up at the ceiling. We have a beautiful church.”

Duane Dunn and his husband, David Ray, along with sons Justin and Jacob joined St. Martin’s in 2013.