Dear Friends,
In January of this year we were looking forward to one with perfect twenty-twenty vision! Ha! Little did anyone expect that this disastrous year is one that no one wants to remember, since it has been replete with illness and with climatic, economic, political, and social misfortunes we all want to go away.
For us, the blessings have been few, by the usual secular measuring rods. Yet, we continue to be grateful for those which have appeared. Our personal health has continued, thanks to the efforts of Eagle’s Trace, the retirement community which has protected all of us who have accepted isolation, social distancing, mask wearing, and hand-washing as a way of life. Of the 950 residents living in our own apartments, only a half-dozen have tested positive for THAT virus! Our gatherings were eliminated for many months; they are returning with restricted numbers. Masked highschool students who could no longer serve in our dining rooms, which had been closed, delivered meals to our doors. Staff even delivered the mail to our doors! The ET medical service also gave us our flu-shots in our apartments; they will be coming with other vaccines when they are made available to our “at risk” demographics. All-in-all we have survived Covid-19 better than many.
Ken’s family was not as fortunate. All those still living at home tested positive back in March. They have recovered. Ken is lucky enough to be able to work from home. The younger kids have continued home-schooling, with Tracey, as they have for many years. The older ones have had reduced hours of work but are still employed; they also have found supplemental ways to earn funds. (The boys inherited their repair/building skills from their father, rather than their grandfather!)
Kelly has joined Chris in retirement from teaching; she will now be able to accompany him, on occasion, when he takes their mobile home on the road for his part-time position making insurance adjustments, following the storms experienced in the South during the summer and fall. Kirby has moved to Atlanta with Stephen, whose company transferred him there from the Houston office. Kennedy, who had been a nurse at Texas Children’s hospital, has become a traveling nurse in Oklahoma! Everyone else remains in Texas!
There is a new great-grandson, Shiloh, who was born prematurely on his father’s birthday in February. We now have six great-grandchildren joining our eleven grandchildren and three “kids,” and their spouses. We don’t get to see them often enough, due to our varying degrees of quarantine. It’s almost like living in different states. However, we have been able to meet with Deb and Frank at restaurants, with restricted quotas, that are located between San Antonio and Houston.
Given the restrictions here at ET, we have set-aside our usual participation in ministry and pleasurable-social events. Pat has taken time to learn how to “blog.” He’s in the processing of transferring material written for our memoir group to a new electronic site: CameosAndCarousels.com, in case you might be interested in reading what he’s done.
Once more, Karen has created a poem to accompany this Christmas summary. This recollection includes another view of this strange year: 2020. We do have hopes and prayers that 2021 will be vastly better. May there not be a Covid-20! Instead, we pray that the “Peace on Earth to those of Good-will,” sung by those angels over two-thousand years ago, may be with us in the months ahead.
Have a blessed Christmas, everyone!
A Different Kind of Christmas
Stores are nearly empty and Christmas music sounds hollow.
Masks hide the smiles on every face.
Fist and elbow bumps replace hugs.
We hesitate to go to church.
We order gifts online or over the phone.
There are no holiday parties.
Families don’t gather for meals or celebration.
20/20 is here, but where is Christmas?
For believers, Christmas is more than family, gifts and Santa.
There is an abundance of time for prayer this year.
Isaiah and Matthew and Luke tell the story –
The timeless story of God-with-us.
An angel, a young woman’s ‘yes’, a dream, a marriage,
A visit to an older cousin, a leap of recognition,
A journey to Bethlehem, a birth in a stable,
A chorus of angels, and homage by shepherds and magi.
Christmas is here – in the story.
It is also a part of us, whatever the celebration or lack of one.
It is 20/20.
“God bless us every one.”
Karen Camerino, 2020