Friday, December 31, 2021

The End of 2021

 

At our last music practice, I worked on a Roger Miller song, “Walking in the Sunshine.” It’s a peppy, short song and I figured it would be an easy song for our upcoming nursing home gigs.

When I sing the song, I sing it twice, and then use the first line of the song as a tag out. For the unsuspecting, it sounds as if I am planning to sing the entire song again.

 

I sang “Walking in the Sunshine” at a jam session with other musicians once, and I finally had to say, “The End.” Otherwise, I don’t know how many times, we would have gone through the song.

 

Once upon a time, movies and books always said “The End” as if you couldn’t figure out you had reached the end when the credits rolled on the screen, or there wasn’t another page in the book. Now, we get a little more credit for being able to figure it out, regardless of how ambiguous the ending.

 

Life is full of beginnings and endings. We usually look at beginnings with anticipation and high hopes. Endings can be a hot mess of emotions.

 

We go through this every New Year’s Eve. We realize that all the beginnings weren’t on New Year’s Day, and all the endings weren’t on New Year’s Eve. Throughout the year, we rode the rollercoaster of time.

 

In the past year, we welcomed a great grandchild into our family. Our grandson married his soul mate. Yes, we had happy times.

 

Adding to the highlights of the year, I’ve participated in some club meetings, we had an in-person Walk to End Alzheimer’s, and our family band played at area nursing homes. We had glimpses of life as semi-normal again, then new versions of the same old virus made us go off the rails. Family members were sick, friends died, and here we go again, and again.

 

Healthwise, this has been a challenging year in our household. Sometimes, I think my husband and I are racing to see who can check out first.

 

This has been a year of chronic pain for me. After a visit to the orthopedic doctor and shots in my knees, I’ve felt better the past week or so. How long will it last? No one knows, but at least I’ve been able to sleep.

 

We have found ways to solve our mobility problems this year. We had a stair lift installed to give us access to our basement. We replaced the steps to our garage with a lift. We use grocery pickup and have a cart to bring the groceries into the house. I don’t try to lift a gaggle of bags and carry them up the steps anymore. I simply load the groceries onto the cart and pull it into the house.

 

My doctor always reminds me to pace myself. “Don’t try to do all your housework in one day.” There wasn’t any chance of that happening when every step I took was painful. By the time I got the basics done, I didn’t have the time or energy to do anything extra. We were finally able to find a housekeeper! I think she gets as much done in four hours as I could in four days.

 

One thing about a challenging year—we don’t have any regrets that it has ended. As far as 2021 goes, we just need to say “The End” with authority.

 

Now, it’s time to punch our tickets and get on the rollercoaster for a new adventure. Look out,2022, here we come!

 

Copyright © December 2021 by L.S. Fisher

http://earlyonset.blogspot.com

#ENDALZ

 

 

 

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