Happy New Year!! Good bye 2021; a good year, a bad year, a difficult year yet a happy year. I think many of us would agree 2021 was more difficult than 2020 as we emerged out of the shock and dismay of Covid 19 not understanding what it meant. As 2021 kept us surfing the wave of pandemic it created divide and conquer mentalities around the world; families fell apart, friends started arguing , people who didn’t even know each other expressed dislike for each other. The media didn’t help and it was pretty confusing. However, as Dickens said “it was the best of times, it was the worst of times”.

Yet as 2021 whined down it was Dinka who told me it was one of her happiest years yet. That alone puts a smile on your face and when digging a little deeper it was because of the kindness of others. Over Christmas and into the New Year as the snow fell it was friends and neighbours who came out to shovel each others walks. Taking that moment to help someone out. A dear friend came from his neighbourhood to our neighbourhood to help us shovel and it was greatly appreciated. He was our elf-angel. Another snow shovel angel was our tennant who met another shovel angel 3 houses down as they met in the middle to clear half our block!! It’s these kinds of things that make me think 2022 is going to be a good year!

Hopefully it will be a year filled with joy and laughter. Some fun and loving kindness is in order.

One of the highlights to the holiday season for me this year was something we’ve often taken for granted. Raised to be polite with a LOT of please and thank you’s, I never really thought much about greetings. While in Europe “good mornings”, “good afternoons” etc. seemed so matter of fact and of course everyone does it. It was a surprise to me, this year, to find myself feeling soooooo good by simply greeting people. For some strange reason “Merry Christmas”, “Happy Holidays” and “Happy New Year” rung unusually true. Was it because our traditions have been shaken up a bit during Covid? Was it because Omicron has taken Covid to a new level of confusion for us all? Was it because we have forgotten what is normal/ usual behaviour we took for granted?

I’m not sure why greeting friends and strangers felt so good this year but I am grateful that I noticed it.

Mom went to the eye specialist December 29th for her second eye injection for her macular degeneration issue. Regardless of my handwaving arms and squeamish face (on the inside) she braved the ordeal exceptionally well by the good grace of a doctor with exceptional bedside manner; love him for that!! Her and I have managed the 4 days of drops, 4 times a day, that followed and actually have developed a rhythm of how to get that drop in there on the first try. Being an avid reader it’s a god send that she can easily continue reading daily and veraciously.

I’ve taken on a resolution of reading for pleasure an hour a day, while Dinka on the other hand has no problem devoting hours to reading. She finished Little Fortress ages before I did and once I started reading my copy she went back and read it again. I love how she shares her reading with me, story telling and expanding into discussion about women’s issues, specific times in history and so forth. She also finished One Man in His Time.. a memoir by Micheal Audain, before me and now is off onto another work. I don’t worry about keeping up with her reading as she’ll always out read me, which is the best because she’s always happy to share and I get the benefit of listening to her great reads and opinions/reviews.

Wishing everyone a grateful and special 2022!