I See YOU/ Ode to the 2020 Heroes

In “Looking In”, which I wrote in March 2020 I referenced how Mother Nature had banished us all to our rooms in the form of the Pandemic as we were all behaving like spoiled children.

https://thebookofjude.wordpress.com/2020/03/15/looking-in/

As we are now the first week in the oh- so- long awaited New Year I cannot help but reflect on all the things I have learned in 2020, all the people I am incredibly grateful for and how like it or not I still feel some gratitude to the year that took my mother and two uncles, stole my job, prevented me from visiting my father, robbed me of hugs from family and friends and kept me home.

I am not a health care provider nor an essential service provider. I did what I was told and I stayed home but that doesn’t mean I didn’t see YOU! All of YOU who were in it.

I stayed home so I know I did my part in that way but it doesn’t feel like enough so not for the first time when I am at a loss…I press my fingers to the keyboard to say thank YOU. I see YOU.

To the Healthcare Workers, I am incredibly thankful to YOU as you stepped up beyond anything YOU had likely ever imagined.  I know that not being by my mom’s side in her last hours was not any easier on those of YOU who were in the trenches with many a- moms and dads during their last hours. 

To the truck drivers, farmers, grocery store workers and pharmacy workers YOU likely have not been told enough times how grateful I am that YOU were there. To YOU and this aforementioned group I bow-down. When so many were saying they were simply sick of hearing about Covid you did not have the luxury to “switch it off” . 

To the Parents who became overnight full time educators and technical wizards to deliver that education YOU are Superstars!

To the kids who did  not get to their prom night or their graduation and to the children who could not spend time with their little friends I am so very proud of YOU!

To the artists and entertainers who provided free concerts on social media I am beholding to YOU for continuing to do what YOU do so well and feeding our home- bound, Netflix binge-watched souls with light and hope.

To our Government who has been criticized and reproached, I give thanks for the unemployment insurance, the emergency relief, the direction and the protocols. I cannot imagine doing YOUR job in 2020.

To the world for coming together to work on a Covid Vaccine, Bravo! 

To my incredible husband and our equally formidable  health care worker daughter (and for a time grocery provider) Merci pour tout!

To my papa for doing everything on his own you are an Iron Man!

To all my friends and family with whom I Zoomed and talked on the phone with and Face-Timed and enjoyed late night philosophic “Messenger” conversations and virtual cocktails, thank YOU for staying connected and demonstrating the true meaning of being together while being apart. 

I see YOU

Jude 

Related Posts by Jude

https://thebookofjude.wordpress.com/2020/08/09/weve-got-this-ca-va-bien-aller/

https://thebookofjude.wordpress.com/2020/03/15/looking-in/

Happy Thanksgiving 2020

It’s hard to feel thankful this year so let’s be thankful for the tiniest moments of joy that creep in with the sunlight filtering in the cool mornings‘ foggy windows. 

Let’s be grateful for the abundance of music so attainable to us through social media, for the steam rising off your fresh coffee in the morning, the pop of the cork being pulled from the wine bottle, the plethora of Netflix Shows, the sound of the book spine cracking as you fold it back to the next chapter.

Let’s be comforted with the memories of our loved ones and the lovely memories we have yet to create because there will be better times ….
-Jude 

We’ve Got This! Ça va bien aller

August 2020,

Let’s see… Where are we?

The coronavirus-19 is still killing people all over the world by the thousands.

Many borders are still closed.
Racism is rampant. Millions have no jobs. The hospitality and travel business has gone to shit.  Our children came home from school one Friday in March and never went back and continue to face uncertain plans for “classroom ” education in the fall.

There is a madman in the White House, our Governor  General is allegedly treating her employees like garbage and now even talk-show host Ellen, idolized by too many, seems to be falling down.

I still haven’t been able to see my dad since before he lost his wife my mother four months ago. I still haven’t been able to hug my daughter or my friends.

Yet, every evening I make the walk to the beach at the end of my street and every night I am amazed, comforted and calmed  by the spectacular sunset. 🌅

At the end of each day Mama Nature  never disappoints. She slowly dims  the lights, calms the winds, basks me in her golden glow and whispers in to my ear that everything is going to be all right.

She follows up with a blanket of stars ⭐️ that covers and envelopes my little world and somehow protects me for  one more sleep.

Still yet,

Each morning finds me sitting on my back deck with cup of Java in hand,   ☕️ listening to the rustle of leaves and the incredible bird song. The birds never let me down. They continue their morning ritual unfettered by all that’s wrong with the world. They fill me with hope and joy !

Where are you finding your hope and joy?

Hope

A year ago today my husband had his life changing /life saving surgery .

I remember the Sun was shining as brightly as it is today. The Sun gave me hope and peace .

10 hours later the Sun was dipping. The post surgical nightmare was upon us. Our little family was assailed with worries and fears that were difficult to articulate or comprehend.

Months went by and though our fears and scars remained we started to relax a little. The Sun continued to come up. We slightly dropped our armour by a few millimetres, we began planning a few days’ in to the future.

One year later the Sun is shining. Despite the unprecedented event we are living, aside from the incredible uncertainty, not withstanding a hopefully temporary loss in revenue the Sun gives me hope. I have learned to embrace the situation we are in and to try to remedy as much as I can with kindness. I have learned that we are all stronger than we can ever imagine.

I have learned that how dark the sky can be … the Sun comes up again.

Sure, I have moments of wanting to throw my arms up in the air and shouting Enough!

But the Sun 🌞 gives me hope.

What gives you hope ?

Looking-in…

It’s a Sunday afternoon on what will be remembered as the first real week of “social distancing” here in Atlantic Canada.

Amid the shakes of the head at the toilet paper hording, the fear of lost business, the worry of loved ones trying to return to Canada and the angst over older family members who cannot receive visitors,  there is the desire to do the right thing by staying home and doing our absolute best to contain this virus that is wreaking havoc on our already burdened medical system and our ailing planet in our usually overstuffed, rich homes.

Oh so humbling to us First World Countries who are not accustomed to not having what we want when we want it. In particular,  we are not in the habit of not being able to go where we want to go no matter how big the crowd without worrying about stepping in harm’s way.

Let’s reflect on that for a moment.

I’ll wait.

I think maybe Mother Nature has decided to put her spoiled children in a “time-out” for a yet to be determined amount of time.  She is putting us in the corner on our knees to think about the damage we have been doing to the earth. She is making us write “I will not continue to waste and over-purchase” a thousand times on the black-board and is forcing us to use a little less fuel by grounding us.

Good Mother Earth has essentially banished us to our rooms and will not allow us to come out until we have thought about our greedy selves. Until we realize how precious our health is and until we promise to eat healthy, exercise and be kind to one another we will not get our dinner.

Let us use this time of self isolation to reflect inward. Let us become smarter and kinder …

I’ll wait….

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Bitch is Back

The Bitch is Back! 

That Bitch who’s name begins with a C is back.

I say; 

I thought we crushed her, 

stripped her of her power, 

brought her to her knees and sent her packing!  

I am told that we did. 

We won! 

She moved and left no forwarding address. 

The thing is ……

There are other Bitches out there .

They hang out on the corner of Evil Street and Malignant Avenue . 

They just sit there playing cards with the Devil and just when you start to relax and think the Bitch has lost your number one of them points that long damning finger nail and chooses you. 

How does she decide ?? 

What is the criteria ??  

How dare she? ? 

Is she just trying to fill her quota ; One in four, at random ? 

Is she jealous that we have figured out that we don’t need much in life except love, nourishment and health? 

Because it looks to me as though she sits back, observes and says ; 

Oooh!!!! 

There is a good man right there! Volunteering to help others, 

kind, 

loving , 

a good father ,

good life partner …. 

hmmmm…. 

I think I need to strike !  

With those beautiful attributes she must get bigger points . 

That must be it . 

Well you cheeky Bitch. 

I am on to you! 

You can put your tally book away, step away from Lucifer’s table and call it a day.

If you think you can come between us and change our chemistry, 

our make up, 

our 29 year collaboration,

your dead wrong ! 

We are coming for YOU! 

We will turn the tables on YOU! 

YOU are NOT  welcome here !

There’sNO Day like a SNOW Day

via There’sNO Day like a SNOW Day

So Far Away……

So Far Away…

Carole King said it best when she said; “So far away, doesn’t anybody stay in one place anymore? It would be so fine to see your face at my door…”

I am one of the lucky ones.

I have been fortunate enough to have a career that has allowed me to travel the world, The good sense to realize this good fortune, The health to enjoy it’s many excursions and the heart to make long lasting friends in each of the ports.

The trouble is; Though of course I am fortunate to live with my wonderful husband and live near my equally amazing daughter and her boyfriend ; no matter where I find myself I am missing someone who I love.

While it is true that the information age that we live in allows us to be in touch through Social Media and FaceTime it provides but short sound bites and moments in each other’s lives.

I long for the lazy afternoons, cosy fireside evenings, discovery walkabouts, intimate conversations and fierce embraces of my many friends and family spread across the universe.

I want to hear from you that things are OK, I would like to help if I know that they are not . I want to “see” that you are happy. I cannot tell this by the image you present on Facebook.

Simply put; the world is too large for me to have your faces at my door. So as I sit here on this rainy Sunday afternoon from my tiny vantage point on my wee speck of the globe listening to Carole King, I am thinking of you all and your beautiful faces.

“It would be so fine to see your face at my door.”

XO

PS You can find me at 46°13’12.71″N and a longitude of 64°32’4.87″W or 46.220197 and -64.534687 r

 

What is Family?

It’s the way everyone remembers that incident a little bit differently.

It’s the commonality of the stubborn, thick and curly hair and the emphatic hand gestures we all practice.

It’s the genuine embrace with which we greet one another. The shared happiness for each other’s good fortune and the empathy for one another’s “sticky bits”.

It’s the warmth within the eyes, the strength of that embrace and the force of the pats on the back.

It’s the intent look on the faces of the listeners, in the animated story tellers of the moment and in the raucous laughter that ensues.

It’s the music carefully selected for the occasion, the combined culinary feast and the empty wine bottles.

It’s the assembling, the arguing and the fussing that goes into producing that day’s family photographs and in the comparing of heights of the children and the maturing of the adults in photos from previous gatherings.

It’s the welcoming of new members as they either join themselves to one of ours or bring a new baby into the clan. It’s the delight for these new members who do not yet know what a merry band they have joined.

It’s the way we pick up where we left off sometimes more than a year ago. It’s the unspoken words and the way time stands still when we are together.

It’s the colors, the sounds, the smells, the tastes and the love.

That is a family. It’s MY family.

The Room

Her nest is empty once again,
So everything is different and yet …..the same.
Only sweet memories remain ,
Felt especially today with all this rain.

Gone are the children, the dogs and the rabbits,
And all those accompanying habits.

She applies fresh paint to the newly vacated room,
Ignoring the aching feeling in her womb.

She remembers 20 years ago when she first saw this room,
And dreamed of all the functions she knew it would assume.

As she paints she recalls;

So much love in these four walls….

At one time,a small child’s bedroom inhabited by teddy bears and dolls,
Later on replaced with computer games and posters on the walls.

This space has held countless bowls of popcorn on many movie nights,
And held many hands during illness frights.
It has witnessed studying with all one’s might,
along with practicing until things were right.

Dreaming of careers and futures bright,
Finding Mr. Right to everyone’s delight !

Children taking flight.
A litany of beautiful sites and great heights.

But it’s not yet finished,
Not quite!
It’s time to hold on tight!
Paint this room in a new light!

As the laughing children still play in the corner of her mind,
She turns towards the future, Also laughing, also kind.

The site of two old lovers sitting side-by-side,
Very much enjoying the rest of this ride.
Sharing a smart and beautiful daughter in which they take pride.

Perhaps still to come, a grandbaby or two,
So many things to look forward to,
In this room ….with its ever-beautiful view.