Happy New Year!

Kathleen Anderson

Well, folks, the end is in sight.

A little over a year in lockdown is about to end. We can choose to go maskless in public. We can dine out, attend a movie and shop in stores instead of having our purchases delivered.

We can embrace our family members, play with our grandchildren and greet friends and neighbors face to face.

We can take the miracle vaccines offered for free or choose to go without. Hopefully, if that is the case you won’t infect others. Either way, the choice is yours.

It has been a year of changes, not only for us but for the whole entire world. People worked from home, students attended school from home – pretty much everything revolved around our homes and families.

So, what have we learned?

Perhaps for some, priorities have changed. Since interaction with others in person has been so limited, we have had more time to reflect on what and who really matters.

I have been incredibly lucky since I live with my daughter and son-in-law and the grandchildren and one great-grand lives next door.

Because the grandkids both work and attend college I had some precious time alone with the two-year-old great-grand. Her wonderment and amazing grasp of the world around her have been an ongoing delight.

Her acceptance of wearing a mask when she did return to daycare was instant, as was that of her friends. Children can be so much smarter than adults.
Playdates went on occasionally and I loved the picture, sent to me by her parents, of her and her little friend walking down a path, holding hands, both wearing masks.

There were stories from time to time of scenes, caused by adults, refusing to wear masks in public places. There were demonstrations in our city and riots in others that had nothing to do with COVID. Our nations’ capitol was attacked by our own citizens, some of whom live in our state. Travel was extremely limited.

There were frustrations, anxieties, and the pain of the loss of dear ones. Graduations, weddings, funerals, births, anniversaries and birthdays that could not be celebrated in person. The technical world helped people to connect -- via ZOOM, Facebook, Instagram and other applications which helped fill the void.

But there were no handshakes, hugs or kisses. Human touch, so important to us all, was extremely limited.

We discovered new hobbies, planted and harvested gardens, took classes offered via the internet and the libraries extended their outreach with links to all of the above and more.

Neighborhoods came together to check on one another and help their older neighbors with shopping and rides to appointments. Doctors were available online for face-to-face consolations.

Free food was available to feed the hungry, masks were sewn and donated to nursing homes and other donations were quietly made by strangers to help others in need.

In short, we survived.

It is always easy to focus on the negatives that occurred during the past year. But I believe most importantly of all, we need to concentrate on the positives.

It brought out the best in so many of us. Let’s continue to pay it forward.