What a year 2020 has been! Recently I decided to make a list of all of the losses we have experienced this year. All types of losses: people, things, finances, hopes and dreams. It’s a long list. I am positive yours is as well. Sometimes it is good to take inventory of our losses and take the time to acknowledge them, shed the tears, and release the hurt and the anger that often comes with loss. It is cathartic.
Once I had done this, I decided to go through the thousands of pictures on my phone. Yes, thousands. True, some of them are saved images I have used and will be using for our church’s women’s ministry social media. Regardless, there are a shocking amount of photos that were taken this past year. Of those thousands of photos, I picked twelve. One photo for each month of the year. One photo representing something that brought me joy this year:
JANUARY 2020
The beginning of 2020 was filled with many tears and many walks on crisp cool days to clear my mind. My heart friend and kindred spirit of 20 years entered heaven’s gates on December 31st and my tears were a mixture of joy for her eternal healing of brain cancer, my heart was shattered. For the most part, 2019 was a year where we visited via video chat at least a dozen times, most days. I was so lost without her. I didn’t know how to pray for her husband and children, without her daily requests for each one of them. This has been a year of learning more about intercessory as I pray for the ones that feel the loss of her life most acutely in the day to day.
FEBRUARY 2020
This winter we really discovered and enjoyed Thrill Hill…a tobogganing hill in our neighbourhood. Getting out of the house when it’s easier to stay inside where it is cozy and warm, was good for us all.
MARCH 2020
Right before our world came to a halt due to the pandemic we were gifted the trip of a lifetime to Disneyland and had the most amazing 10 days in California with dear friends. There are times in life where something happens for no reason but someone’s grace and generosity and this trip of a lifetime was one of those times. It is hands down one of the most special times of our life and happened, literally just before the world shut down.
APRIL 2020
With schools closed and classes being completed remotely, we were always looking for additional ways to bring meaning to our lives. One way we did this was to write letters to seniors in a seniors residence. Olivia spent hours writing letters and drawing pictures for the seniors and frontline workers. She was elated when she received a few responses in the mail. Oh what joy!
MAY 2020
Turning 8 in the middle of a pandemic was not how Olivia dreamed it would be, but we made the most of it, by dropping of cupcakes at friend’s houses and enjoying them together on Zoom. There were front porch gift drop offs and a firetruck birthday drive-by. It is what you make it, and we tried our best to make it memorable.
JUNE 2020
Fishing on Father’s Day. Love seeing Jason in his happy place.
JULY 2020
Now, if the year wasn’t crazy enough…we decided to go ahead with a major house renovation. We had our house moved off the 75 year old foundation, had a new foundation poured, house moved back on, and an addition built. Very exciting and very stressful, but will be worth it once all is said and done.
AUGUST 2020
Between the house lift, Jason working more hours than he has every had to before, and an endless list of things that need to get accomplished before the cold of winter sets in, we took the time for one camping trip in August. Olivia got in a little fishing and caught one Walleye and two Jack Fish.
SEPTEMBER 2020
Due to the unpredictability of the world around us due to the pandemic, we decided that giving Olivia a predictable and contestant education this year was important to us. Thus, grade three is being completed via homeschooling this year. It is going fairly well, but she is looking forward to going back to a bricks and mortar school for grade 4.
OCTOBER 2020
With the addition up, the windows and door in, and gas, electrical and plumbing in place enough to live in the house, we moved back into the house in October. Thankfully we own the little house beside ours that we call The Urban Cottage, so we had a place to live during the months where our house was out of commission.
NOVEMBER 2020
We were blessed to have my parents come out from Manitoba for a few months. They moved into The Urban Cottage and helped with so many projects while they were here
DECEMBER 2020
Covid-19 restrictions in Alberta were tightened for four weeks over Christmas (and perhaps longer) and masks are mandated in all public indoor areas, all indoor and outdoor gatherings are prohibited and close contacts are limited to household members only meaning a quiet Christmas for everyone.
Loved reading this interesting summary. You and Jason have accomplished so much. What a blessing having your parents to help. When Sherman and I did a similar renovation in 1974 three of the grandparents had passed having only Grampa Bradley there for advice and shower our three small children with much love. Living in a renovation is not the easiest thing to do, but so worth it in the end. Loss, celebration, perseverance, accomplishment; all such character building events this past year. You did it! šš„°
Living in the Moment 
Loved reading this interesting summary. You and Jason have accomplished so much. What a blessing having your parents to help. When Sherman and I did a similar renovation in 1974 three of the grandparents had passed having only Grampa Bradley there for advice and shower our three small children with much love. Living in a renovation is not the easiest thing to do, but so worth it in the end. Loss, celebration, perseverance, accomplishment; all such character building events this past year. You did it! šš„°
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Yes, always so good to review a year looking at the positive.
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