HAPPY NEW YEAR!

This is a new day in a new year, and I’m sure that everyone out there hopes it will be a whole site better than this past year. We are still battling a once-in-a-century pandemic that has taken its toll on every living person. Yeah, saying “every living person” may be presumptuous, but unless you’ve been living under a rock (maybe the slugs DID escape it, but I highly doubt it!) you have been affected by Covid-19 in one way or another. And far too many have been affected by losing someone dear to them.

We had to celebrate all the holidays this past year in such a way as was never expected. Many are in a second lockdown, so celebrating was limited to members of the same household. Or, if you live alone, you turned to technology. Thankfully we do have technology that allows us to at least speak face to face. Can you imagine if you were living through the Spanish flu? No tablets or smart phones, laptops or computers. How ever did they manage? We are such a technologically-minded people that we can’t begin to fathom what that time period was like, or how they ever managed through it. Well, they did, and so will we.

There is nothing I can say to the people who have lost loved ones to this dreadful disease that will make this time any easier. Just that you have my sympathies, and my prayers. I say this with heartfelt sincerity. I can’t begin to imagine what you have been going through. The only glimmer of positivity that I can offer is that one day, you will learn how to live with this pain. Small comfort, isn’t it? But this hardship will pass with the passing of time.

To the people who aren’t in mourning, consider yourselves lucky. “WHAT?” you might be thinking. Yeah, I did say “consider yourselves lucky”. You didn’t have to make funeral arrangements, or agonize over not even being able to HAVE a funeral. You didn’t have to phone loved ones and friends to advise them of a loss that tears you apart. I’m not saying that life has been a “bowl of cherries” for you, but there is some positive you can be thankful for.

To the people who have suffered through this disease and have come out on the other side, I say “congratulations”. I’m not suggesting that everything is “hunky-dory” for you now, as even the doctors and specialists don’t know the long-term effects of this disease. But you can still be proud of yourselves for having beaten this immensely horrifying virus. May your recovery be more “up” times than “down” times.

To the people who care for us, doctors and nurses, police and paramedics, sales clerk and delivery drivers, and I’m sure many more who I am forgetting, I say a HUGE, HEARTFELT “THANK YOU”. We DO notice, and we DO care, and we ARE thankful. Words can’t describe what you mean to those needing the care and help.

Finally, I wish all of you a very Happy New Year. May 2021 be a year of recovery and blessings. May you all stay healthy and safe. May the Heavenly Father continue to hold you all in His hands as He guides us through another year of uncertainty and change. And may we all stay kind to one another as we share these blessings we do have with neighbour and friend.

Until next time,

Inge