Well as I recently celebrated another year around the sun it is time reflect. 2020 oh what a year you have been. As I sit back and think about the last year let’s be real, calling it a dumpster fire will be using a kind term. Not only were we all dealing with the Covid 19 pandemic and the repercussions of that, but personally, my year was filled with various medical issues that were presented to people close to me. I missed out on so many events, trips, special events and really what about the overall mental drain this put on all of us.
So rather than going on and on about everything that sucked and God knows I can fill a few pages of that, I’ve decided to focus on the positives. I am grateful for the time I got with my family. My husband was out of work many, many months due to our province being in various stages of lockdown because of the pandemic. Along with him being home, our kiddo was home since schools were closed. Throw in some online learning, missed graduations, recitals, birthday parties and my gosh it wasn’t easy but we somehow got through it. We grew as individuals and as a family. We learned to appreciate each other even when we were working through our own feelings of the fear of the unknown. God knows there is no parenting book on how to raise a child during a pandemic, or if I’m wrong and there is one, it was probably sold out with all of the toilet paper!
According to the encyclopedia Britannica middle age is considered anything between the ages of 40 and 60. So being in this “middle age” phase of life I’m grateful for my health. I am able to wake up each and every morning and put on my pants one foot at at time still. Yes there may be more aches and pains than there have been in previous years but what we don’t realize as we’re going through life is that we do a number on our body. It isn’t until one day we sneeze and throw out our backs (figuratively speaking not literally) that we’re like oh crap!
I’m grateful for technology. It is hard when your family is not close by. To be able to FaceTime my parents, see my brother’s family including my nephews growing up even when I can’t physically be there is huge. For the memes sent by a friend at 5am as she heads out to workout or the check in text at 10:30pm because she was thinking about you. This pandemic has brought us closer together even though it is keeping us apart.
I’m grateful for the sun shining. Yup I know that sounds cliché but there is something special about those fall days where the sun is still hot enough to warm you up. When I’m waiting to pick up the kid and the wind lets down for a bit and the sun hits your face and a feeling of calm comes over you. It is as if mother earth is telling you, I got you, we’re okay.
So as my brother reminds me, I’ve entered my 29th year again (plus, plus) and I am going to use the life experiences I have acquired to take this year head on. After what has been thrown at me in 2020, I know that I can take on whatever comes my way.
