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The year of missed memories – 2020

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Two thousand twenty was a year of missed memories, missed favorite products and missed special events. We may never get the memories back but hopefully some of our favorite products will be back and we can celebrate events again in-person.

missed memories
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Missed Memories

We all gave up memory making in 2020. Many people lost the vacations they booked months before. State and national parks were closed to picnickers, hikers and campers. Sports facilities were closed so we were unable to watch our children and grandchildren play their favorite games. Weddings and even funerals were postponed or held for a limited amount of people. Many Fourth of July BBQs were cancelled as were family firework displays. High school and college seniors gave up proms and the traditional graduation ceremony full of pomp and circumstance. Drive-bys instead of in-person birthday parties became standard. Children were not allowed to attend school or be with their friends. Adults were laid off from jobs or began working remotely while possibly becoming their child’s homeschool teacher.

Missed Favorite Products

Stores were out of our favorite toilet paper for weeks, if not months, during 2020. For awhile this past summer I could not get lettuce on my burger at Wendy’s. McDonalds stopped serving root beer but worse yet, they didn’t have eggnog shakes during the holidays. Since Celestial Seasonings in Boulder was closed most of the year, I could not get my favorite tea Nutcracker Sweet. Normally, I drink it everyday of the year. I think I had my last cup of Nutcracker Sweet some time in March. Did we ever really know why there was a coin shortage?

Missed Special Events

Many special events were postponed or cancelled this year as mentioned above. Other special events we missed included in-person Sunrise Service at church on Easter, Thanksgiving get togethers as well as Hanukkah and Christmas celebrations. Even giving up in-person weekly Bible study and monthly book club was hard. How many people had concert tickets they didn’t get to use? State and county fairs were modified or cancelled. Online auctions took the place of a thrilling live in-person event.

What’s Ahead in 2021?

While we can’t get the time and memories back we lost in 2020, we can make up for lost time in 2021. With the new vaccines rolling out in December, I believe we can begin to plan for vacations, sporting events, weddings, funerals, BBQs, Bible study, book clubs, proms, graduations, in-person schooling and birthday parties. We have a lot to look forward to. We will once again be able to hold our loved ones close.

For me, I am looking forward to visiting my Mom (87) in person and give her a hug in 2021. She never contracted COVID-19, thank the Lord, even though it was rampant in her nursing home last summer. The isolation was difficult for her but she is a survivor.

We may have lost a lot in 2020 but I think we also gained a lot. We gained the knowledge of what is really important: the memories we make with those we love. What memories will you be making in 2021?

Happy New Year!

Top 5 posts of 2020

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top 5 posts 2020

You deserve a BIG shoutout for making 2020 the best year ever for LivingLifeRetired.com. Visitors to this site more than doubled in 2020 over any other previous year. Thank you!

Due to COVID-19 many of us tried to stay in touch with our family members who were, or still are, isolated in assisted living and nursing homes. This trend appeared in the visits to the LivingLifeRetired site this year. The top 5 posts of 2020 included topics of staying connected with families, worry and hope.

Here are your top five most read posts of 2020:

Nursing Home Phones Keep Families Connected, 2019

Legacybox and Mom’s “First Films”, 2018

Worry is Like a Rocking Chair, 2020

Retirement Adjustment Stages, 2016

Listening to God and Heidi, 2020 tied with Rabbit Rabbit, 2020

Thank you again for visiting LivingLifeRetired.com this past year. I look forward to 2021 with hope for new adventures and memory making for my readers. If you have enjoyed reading posts on this site, please click on the like button below.

Ghost of Christmas past – depression

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depression
amazon.com

Growing up in an Iowa farm house with a family of nine made Christmas an event. My ghost of Christmas past would first show me events full of fun with lots of family and friends while celebrating the birth of Jesus. But my ghost would also show me many Christmases with an undertone of depression which I wrestle with to a lesser degree today.

Weeks before Christmas when I was quite young, my siblings and I would go to Christmas practice at church. I loved being at church as I had many friends there. We sang and played different roles while reenacting the Christmas story about Jesus’ birth. The actual performance following these practices was usually on Christmas Eve.

I remember receiving a new dress to wear for the special Christmas Eve church service. This dress was very special as it was one of the only new pieces of clothing I had all year. This gift of a new dress added to my Christmas Eve anticipation.

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Eulogizing Dad

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Today, is the seventh anniversary of my Dad’s passing. It seems like yesterday.

My Dad was an avid Iowa State Cyclone fan and today is the Big 12 championship football game. My siblings and I will cheer them on from Oregon, Colorado, Kansas, and parts of Iowa. We will also be joined by our Dad in heaven. Here’s to you Dad and your Cyclones today! We love you and miss you!

The following is the eulogy I wrote to honor my Dad and delivered at his funeral:

Good morning. 

I am Sherry, one of Jerry’s girls.  Most people can still pick each one of us out of a crowd.  In fact that happened again Friday as I walked across the parking lot at Brogan’s. 

I’d like to start by saying that we’d all like to thank you for braving this cold, snowy day to honor our father, grandfather and great-grandfather. 

I brought with me today a most precious gift Dad made for each of us many years ago.  It is a wooden plant stand fashioned out of the wood from cedar trees that once stood behind the house at the farm.  He cut these trees down and took them to a neighbor’s sawmill and cut them into the wood planks he would use to create this work of art. 

Eulogizing Dad
A precious gift made by my Dad, Photo by slc

The plant stand is significant not only because it was a precious gift, but also because I believe it symbolizes our Dad. 

This plant stand has a broad, sturdy base or foundation.  Dad grew up knowing hard work and family values.  He was a pillar of strength to many.  His parents, his brothers and sisters, his daughters and son, his neighbors, his friends, and his grandchildren.  He was always willing to help. 

I remember one snowy day much like this one when I was young, but one with much more snow.  The wind was blowing snow over the road at the top of our hill and it created a huge snow drift.  We were inside the warm farmhouse watching television as a lone car approached, not knowing the drift was impassible.  The driver would bury his car in the drift and Dad would go out in the wind and cold (and most of you know how much he hated the cold). He would start up the tractor and pull out the car so the traveler could be on their way.  He would never accept any money for his help.  That was just what you should do.  Help people.  Be a strong and sturdy base. 

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Nursing home phones keep families connected, part 2

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nursing home phones part 2
Zoom call with Mom, Photo by slc

Face time, Skype, Zoom, Webex, Google Hangout. A few months ago many of us had never heard of these virtual platforms let alone used one. Who knew technology was going to play such a large roll in how we communicate with our friends and families this year? They have become an important for residents of nursing homes and assisted living facilities to keep families connected.

Keeping families connected during the Covid-19 pandemic has been hard and often times very sad. Many people with loved ones in assisted living and nursing homes received word they were not allowed in person visits, even during an illness or prior to death. Many residents died without family around and the family was not allowed to hold a funeral to grieve with others. How much longer must nursing home phones and other devices be the only means to keep families connected?

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Tailgating at Arby’s

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tailgating
Iowa Football Game Day, Photo by Iowa City Press-Citizen

Have you ever been tailgating? When I was in my 20s, a long time ago, I tailgated with my future husband at the Iowa Hawkeye football home games. There were lots of people, lots of food, lots of anticipation for the game, and lots of beverages. Sometimes we even tailgated just the two of us from the back of our car with our grill we brought from home. I have fond memories of those fun days in the fall.

The other day I pulled into the drive thru lane at Arby’s. In the parking lot I noticed five or six women tailgating. They had parked their SUVs so the hatches opened next to each other. They even had a couple of lawn chairs out. They happily sat in the backs of their vehicles while eating, chatting and enjoying the beautiful Colorado weather. They were tailgating at Arby’s.

What a great idea during this time when most indoor dining is closed and you can’t attend football games. Maybe these ladies have started a new trend…tailgating at Arby’s, minus the grill and the beer!

tailgating at arbys
Pin on Football and Tailgating, Photo by Pinterest

Choose happiness and new lighting

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“Happiness is not something you postpone for the future; it is something you design for the future.”

–Jim Rohn

As you may know, I recently purchased and moved to a new home in a new town. The home I purchased was not what I was truly hunting for but it was in the right location. The night before closing I walked through the home, the “final walkthrough” they call it. I told my realtor I changed my mind and I didn’t want the house any more. The house was beat up. The trim was chipped, the overall paint job could have been done better by my grandchildren, it seemed darker than I remembered, drywall patch jobs were elementary at best, and the place was just dingy and dirty. Despite the condition, I closed on the home the next morning and got to work. I was determined to choose happiness.

Little by little, I am working to design this shell of a house into a happy home, a home with some class. One of the many things I learned from my past moves is not to wait until you sell a home to spruce it up. The sooner you make it yours the better. One major aesthetic change I made was the main floor lighting.

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