Our Covid Christmas 2020

It was a Christmas to remember. We couldn't gather but I managed to have a little Christmas time with each family except for those up island. If nothing else this year has taught me to be thankful for the little things in life because when it comes down to it the small things are all we really need. 

It's really not the gifts, it's not the trips, it's not the parties. It's the family and the people that are close to your heart is all that really matters in life. If we have people to love and be loved by then that is the best gift of all. 

From the innocent little ones who love to be with you to the elderly ones that have always loved you and journeyed beside you through you life, there is the gift of love, the greatest gift of all. 

So as we leave this year of 2020 we can have hope and thanksgivings. Hope that we will all be together next Christmas and thankful for the loved ones in our lives.

The Longest NIght

It's the longest night in what seems to have been the longest year. As the pandemic continues to cause rampage across our world I am more and more thankful to be living on this island I call home and to have my children living on it as well. Most of us managed to gather for Thanksgiving and again for my birthday at the beginning of November but since that time we have been on lockdown and not allowed to gather with our family in our homes, attend church services or leave our communities. The stores are open and the planes still fly but gathering with large groups is banned until January. 

It will be a different Christmas for us all and I often wonder if we are doing the right thing. The restrictions are causing so much stress in so many families and relationships. We have the ones who snitch on those gathering, we have the ones that wear masks and the ones who don't feel it is necessary. We have our elders being kept in care homes where the virus runs rampant and they are allowed no visitors so many have died alone. 

Yet in amongst all this there is light even in the darkness. Tonight Jupiter and Saturn have aligned giving us a view of what many believe is the star the wise men followed to Bethlehem many years ago. It's brightness gives us a sense of light in the darkness. The other sense of light in my life is all the wonderful time I am getting to spend with my parents who are in my bubble. Instead of seeing them once a week we have been visiting two or three times sharing many meals together and keeping each other company. I miss our large family dinners but the quiet meals are a good time to share stories about the past and think about the future. 

I will be able to see two of my children and five of my grandchildren this Christmas holiday, not on Christmas day as we won't be gathering together and sharing in the usual turkey dinner. It won't be perfect but it could be a lot worse for sure. I will be having dinner with my parents and we shall make the most of it and video chat with the younger families to stay connected while we celebrate the Christmas holiday.

This year of 2020 will be talked about for years and will affect at least three generations of people. There will be trauma and probably regrets but there will also be the time spent together, the way people connected virtually and took care of each other and the time parents had to spend with their children doing family adventures. 

In January I felt that this year was going to be so great. It would be a special year for us all. I was so very very wrong and I can't say I will be sad to see it end. I will be very thankful for my family and for my friends who have faithfully social distance walked with me through all of this. 

The longest night 2020 was a night where snow had fallen and the valley was covered in a beautiful white blanket, it was a night where the planets aligned and it was a night where the Christmas lights glowed outside bringing us light into the darkness we felt.