2020 Year-End Letter

Merry after-Christmas! Can't wait for 2020 to be over! We BeLieVe... for a Happy New Year. 

BeLieVe

We received a Christmas card today with no return address and an initials-only signature. The initials were impossible to decipher, but we could clearly read the handwriting: Merry Christmas! Miss you guys. Love your snow. Be safe! WL (or initials something like that). We racked our brains thinking, Who is that? The handwriting seemed so familiar! We were puzzled.

And that is the way we felt about 2020. Puzzled AND confused! COVID-19 had no return address, and we didn't recognize our daily lives or our country. Masks were required where we live, beginning in March, worn at every store and pretty much everyplace (except for outdoor exercise, but even some people wore masks doing that). No wonder. In 1918 a poorly-timed mask-less parade caused Philly to be a hot spot for the virulent Spanish Flu. People were dying in the streets. So, with the COVID pandemic, this entire part of the country has been super cautious. They had learned a critical pandemic lesson: Wear masks and social distance.

COVID didn't stop us. Hubby quickly adapted in March to working from home; we attended our son's beautiful August wedding; we met two new grand pups and one new grand dog; and, home schooling for the Grands is working. In fact, their reading has improved dramatically. This fall we discovered the interesting Wilmington Riverfront, Delaware's glorious sandy beaches, and (thanks to our neighbors) more of nature's beauty at nearby Longwood Gardens.

Zoom is our new friend, for remote work meetings from home and also for family "get-togethers." Having plenty of time on our hands, I seized opportunities this year to reconnect with my five siblings through FB Messenger and Zoom, absorbing with my sisters all 8 meaningful episodes of "The Chosen." Neither Zoom, nor computer interactions, reveal our pants or footwear. So, sweats and slippers are COVID rages we willingly embrace.

Frigid Christmas Eve! Who is that masked man?
Masks were worn, for WARMTH! Behind us shivered at least 100 others

For Christmas, we were blessed to be physically present with our Midwest grown children and their families. A frigid (3-degree wind chill) outdoor Christmas Eve service was a highlight of our visit. Masks were a must-wear, for warmth! Maybe it was the challenge of shivering outside for 45 minutes in freezing temps. Maybe it was the beautiful Christmas carols. Maybe it was the Holy Christmas message. Maybe it was being at a worship service with 100+ others and our family-of-9 (our new daughter-in-law included 💖). Maybe it was the wonder, of everything (including walks and family meals and WW 84 on Christmas Day).

Sherlock (not I) figured out who done it. The initials on the Christmas card looked like WL, but were actually DC. No wonder the handwriting was so familiar--it was my former co-worker. I saw his handwriting and initials regularly 😃 in what seems like another life. Thanks for the well wishes, Drake, and wishes from others, too. We miss you all.

By the way, with God's help, our leaders will figure out the mystery of COVID, too. The two of us will pull up our sleeves and take the medicine. Vaccine-willing (we'll post our vaxxie), Happy New Year! Best wishes to our family and friends for a blessed and safe 2021. We all, in one way or another, helped each other through this nutty, crazy, challenging, political, curious 2020 COVID-19 year (-19 in 2020, isn't that peculiar and confusing, too)!                                      Your friends...

The wonder of a Midwest Christmas week rainbow, our youngest's first-ever (that she remembers)