A Year to Remember . . . and to Forget

A year like no other is now ended. So far, we as a family, have made it. Unscathed and healthy. I was much of a recluse before the pandemic struck and like my friend Barry said . . . he was social distancing before it was required. Me too. 

I do miss the family times we most definitely took for granted. We took the "stay at home" recommendation seriously. We stayed home. We took the "social distancing" recommendation seriously. We social distanced. We took the "wear a mask" recommendation seriously. We wore a mask. And we're still doing every one of those today. 

A vaccine is here and in record time for vaccines. Thank goodness and Moderna and Pfizer. While we won't be at the top of any list to receive it, we will receive it. And until we do, we will continue to do all those things listed above. No amount of risk is worth it. 

In addition to Covid-19, another sad event left a void in our family. JimA, Josh's Dad, passed away on November 4. We've known he and DebB for 20 years now and shared so many good times. We will miss him very much. He was a good man. So talented too. Our get-togethers just won't be the same. 

About that same time we had a presidential election and much to our relief we have a new one. Despite not winning a second term, the old one has done more damage to our society than even I thought possible. I, and several million others, predicted he'd do just what he did. I look back at my blog post on the sad day four years ago and it's almost prophetic.

But there have been many good things this year including all of us remaining in good health.  I could not be more grateful.

And speaking of grateful . . . not too long ago was my birthday.  I turned 60 and while I often feel very much age 60, I could be in much worse shape!  

Ross sent this beautiful bouquet and I enjoyed it all week!

Then we chatted with the kids in celebration :)

This amazing set of books is a concerted effort with Randi handling the bulk of it.  

And no doubt it was quite a job!  

It's a printed version of my blog!  Absolutely amazing.  I've already read through 2009 and 2010 and most of 2011.  I can hardly believe it's all about us. Thank you, all of you, for a wonderful birthday!

As much as I love Christmas, I decided to forego the usual decorations and put up just a little tinsel tree.  It's festive enough for now and perhaps all my old decorations may feel like new again next year.  

We celebrated the holiday with gumbo on the patio with Ross and a chat with Randi and family to unwrap gifts.  The weather was actually quite nice!

Randi.  So clever.