December into January

I want to thank all of you for your support during 2020 and for all of your kind remarks. Sharing with you helped make the hard times more tolerable. I feel like we faced a grim and unsettled year together.

I wonder how you celebrated Christmas. I daresay that those of you who were able to gather realized the greatest gift was being together. For John and me, the best I can say is we put a brave face on it. I even wore nice clothes and makeup. The plan was for the Chamberlins to gather Christmas morning—yes, outside, distanced but together (and in the year of 2020, that is not an oxymoron). But when our daughter Jennifer was exposed to an active case of Covid and our other daughter, Lu, came down with symptoms of a cold, we collectively put the brakes on. 

Christmas Day found John and me having our mimosas and eggs Benedict with only two saucy canines in attendance. Entertaining, but not quite the same as the sixteen noisy, boisterous humans who are usually here. It was a gorgeous day, and we opened our gifts on the back deck. I kept thinking how perfect the weather was for what we had planned.

The “reason for the season” was more poignant as the baby Jesus was placed in the manger, accompanied by birdsong and the splashing of our fountain, rather than the hush of family members as the sacred scriptures were read. When I fell into bed Christmas night, I did not feel the usual exhausted happiness this day usually brings. I was just relieved it was over.

Now the last of the decorations are put away and we are getting ready to leave on our annual trip to the desert. This trip is something I have looked forward to for months, as planned vacations were erased from our calendar. I never thought I would like the desert, but in January the weather is mild, you can see forever, and for some reason your perspective broadens, problems do not seem monumental, and all of life’s obligations, shoulds, and have-tos disappear. Sister Mary Serenity replaces Sister Mary Turmoil …

Here I am at 404 words, and all I had intended to say was how appreciative I am of all of you and that blogs may be sporadic during January. But you never know.

Sending all of you joy, peace, contentment, and gratitude—sincere gratitude from the heart.