Oh boy, this feels like a hard prompt for the moment.
2020 was not a year filled with a whole bunch of delightful times for me.
(Or honestly for an awful lot of the world!)
Of course, there were good moments, but they were mixed in with a lot of not-great times.
I think maybe one of my happiest times was in early February (pre-pandemic) when I went skiing with my immediate family in Lake Tahoe.
On one of the last days of our trip, we had a lovely sunny day, the mountain wasn’t crowded, the snow was good (like it could hold a turn without danger of slippage), and I got to go super fast.
I think that was the day I almost hit 60 mph on my ski tracker app.
Anyway. That’s a memory that pops out to me as being fun and stress-free.
When my brother and his family stopped to see us on their way cross-country. They live in the Phoenix area and had never visited us here. His girls LOVED it here. They were only here one night, but they were so excited to ride the horse and feed the chickens and all the “country stuff.” The cousins got to play for bit, and I got to see my brother, which happens more rarely than we would like.
My youngest finally getting to receive First Communion! It was delayed, of course, by Covid, and eventually they decided to have children go individually and not in a big ceremony, as normally done. Which was perfect for our shy, introverted kid (and family!). He was the only First Communicant at an early Mass, and it was very simple and wonderful. So there was, at least for us, a small silver lining in that he got a very stress-free ceremony, and after preparing and waiting so long, he received Jesus!
My daughter’s birthday party. We had a normal birthday party. No one wore masks. The kids played in the yard together and tie dyed shirts. Cake and ice cream was had. She had one normal, fun filled day.
Easy! My oldest son got married to a wonderful girl. Of course there was a lot of stress with the rearranging of leading up to the actual wedding due to COVID but it turned out great.
The birth of my great granddaughter &realizing how great a mother my granddaughter was. I helped raise her &it was wonderful hear her talk about all the stuff we did she wants for her daughter. It reinforced how its what u do with your kids really matter.
My middle child ended up being home this year from college, taking courses online, studying for a second degree. This isn’t permanent as she will return in the summer. We have had such a wonderful time with her home. Has been such an unexpected blessing. My husband and I are not taking it for granted.
My daughter was scheduled to get married in the summer. She had a 30 second “paper” marriage earlier that year for various reasons. Even though the wedding was pushed back a year (and who knows in what format it will occur) they are actually married. I’m happy for them.