“Hope” is the thing with feathers –
That perches in the soul –
And sings the tune without the words –
And never stops – at all…
– Emily Dickinson
As 2020 draws to a close…
This year will be remembered for generations, and stories will be told by our children to their grandchildren, about the pandemic that swept the world and affected the lives of almost everyone on the planet.
But from loss and suffering comes strength and courage and human ingenuity. Periods of great inspiration and creativity have followed historic periods of strife and grief. The Human Spirit grows an armor of tenacity and resolve after enduring the flames of our greatest challenges. Humanity rises like the Phoenix to reclaim the joy of our precious day-to-day existence. It is the simple things like ….quiet afternoons with a needle and thread….that fill our hearts and heal our souls.
So I can only look to the coming year with HOPE and acceptance, because as much as we desire to have our questions answered, and as much as we crave normalcy, the world around the corner will be a new normal that we will embrace because it will clearly be better than 2020.
My sweet mother is now in a wheelchair in a nursing home. Yesterday they called to say she is scheduled for her Covid vaccination on January 4th. But late today I received another call that she has tested Covid positive, and has been moved to the Covid unit although she is asymptomatic. For those of you who believe in prayer, you are welcome to send her a prayer. I cannot visit her or talk to her, so that is all I have. So many of you have endured the same challenges this year, and many more will face this in the next few months until the world can get a grip on this pandemic.
In the meantime we have each other, we have our quilting to bring us solace, we have our friends via Zoom, we have our dogs and cats, and we have our personal strength that rises to these occasions. We have learned about ourselves, our communities, our leaders, and we’ve learned about things we didn’t want to know….and these things have made us more fierce, more compassionate, more generous, and hopefully more patient.
That’s what Life is all about. Learning. And this year has been a whopper.
Wishing you health and comfort in the New Year,
Luana and Paul
* The photo of the yellow bird in the center was taken at the Botanic Gardens in Christchurch, New Zealand…after the earthquake destroyed parts of downtown. You can see more photos of New Zealand and other travel and quilt festival photos on my photo pages.
