I had a funny Christmas. It was sweet and peaceful in a lot of ways. Lots of quality time with my mom. But weird things kept happening. I walked over to a friend’s apartment on Thursday morning to drop off a gift. She’s not big on celebrating Christmas, but she knows that the holiday is special to me. “How’s your Christmas?” she asked.  “OK,” I responded. As I did, I surprised myself by starting to cry on the street. Something similar happened on Christmas…

I saw a quotation on Jamie Varon’s Instagram recently that stopped me in my tracks. Varon wrote, It’s almost 2021. And you’re going to feel the pressure to evaluate 2020 by the way your body looks, the amount in your bank account, how much you got done or did not get done. And how about this idea? Don’t. Don’t evaluate it. Don’t look back and wish you’d done it differently. What an idea. I keep reading or hearing about the unexpected ways in…

My godfather passed away from Covid-19 last Monday. My mom and I had been preparing ourselves for a few days, as his condition declined. But he seemed to be a little better, just before the end, and we’d both responded with some cautious hope. I happened to lose my godmother at the beginning of October. She didn’t have Covid, but her death was very sudden. I’ve been thinking all week about godparents and people who feel like godparents. I hadn’t seen Bill—Uncle Bill,…

I’ve been finding it hard to maintain a positive outlook lately. I’ve been worried about isolation this winter, especially given the spikes in Covid cases nationwide. Monotony and loneliness are starting to wear on me. As I mentioned last week, I love the holidays, but they also bring up a lot. I know I’m not the only one who feels this way. And this is a holiday season unlike any other. Then, only a few days ago, I got news that someone close…