A New Year — Gather with Jim

JIM BUTTON,
TELLING TALES.

A New Year

Before I start investing heavily into 2022 I want to feel that the efforts of the past two years will lead us to something resembling what we would have called in the past ‘a normal year’.

Somewhere in the middle of the covid chaos of 2021 I leaned over to Tracey and asked ‘I’m busting my ass to stay alive for this?’ It was meant as a joke but was obviously wrapped in a truth. Covid has certainly had an incredible affect on how we live our day to day lives and as an immunocompromised person I have had to be extremely careful and isolated during this time. And that’s fine I guess, but when it really dampens the activities of my family I start feeling very badly for their social sacrifices. On New Year’s Eve for example our kids stayed in while their peers were out and about at parties. Of course many of them got covid so I guess that was the upside of being down-low.

That being said, the past two years have been quite peaceful and simple for Tracey and I while the kids have been off at school. We are one of those lucky couples that still like each other, let alone love each other. Our lives are certainly simplified but we have found ways to keep ourselves moving forward. For example the present rule is we must walk daily even if the weather is in the -30’s. We feel better each and every time.

As Covid continues to impact our lives I feel like it’s making a bunch of us crazy because all we can think of is what we can no longer do. I fall in this court sometimes as well, but I quickly get myself out of the FOMO mode and think about all the great things that have come as a result - more outdoor adventure, appreciation for what we have, more book reading, more time with Tracey and so on.

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.”

Charles Dickens, Tale of Two Cities

I am going to continue to busting my ass to stay around, I am going to continue to make the best of a lousy covid situation and I am going to do my best to follow the ten tips I wrote in the last post.

And someday we can all get together and hug it out. Here’s hoping that happens in 2022.

Caregiver

2022