2020 was a a mishmash of events. While we had many unpleasant (understatement!) experiences, we also had some happy occasions.  It was by all accounts a grey year, and not black and white. In this post, I describe the events of the past year month by month.

JANUARY 2020:

This was the month when our son and his wife had a baby boy. The baby was named after my father, Shalom and we welcomed his parents and our friends for a lovely bris on the eighth day.

That same week, our older son, Avi, was diagnosed with a serious diagnosis and had surgery literally two days before his nephew’s bris. The surgery was thank G-d, successful.

FEBRUARY 2020:

My husband and I traveled to Cleveland for the kiddush celebrating the birth (belatedly) of our baby granddaughter who was already 8 months old. We thoroughly enjoyed a Shabbas weekend with our son, daughter-in-law and their adorable baby girl. And the snowstorm added to the fun.

The day after we returned home, my son had a major surgery to complete the job that the initial surgery from 6 weeks earlier had accomplished. He was in the hospital for 4-5 days and thankfully recuperated over the next few weeks.

MARCH 2020:

This was the month of Purim and the beginning of the Coronavirus pandemic in Los Angeles. My husband caught the virus – in synagogue the third week in March and he was in bed with a moderate to severe case for 2 weeks. At the end of his illness, when his fever finally broke, I caught a mild version of the virus. Both of us tested positive and were quarantined for awhile.

My cleaning lady didn’t come for 3 1/2 months and needless to say this was a difficult time what with using Instacart and creative ways to get shopping done (my daughters-in-law helped out a ton!). But, compared to what others suffered through, I consider ourselves very blessed. We had friends who were hospitalized and extremely ill.

APRIL 2020:
Passover alone with my husband without any of our children or grandchildren was an experience, to say the least. I cleaned and prepared without the usual help that I have from my adult children and my housecleaning help. But, we are resilient thank G-d, and we were given strength we didn’t know we had. And the Pesach sedarim were very special and lovely. Our children tell us they also enjoyed their own sedarim with each of their children getting special attention because of the smaller gathering. Our children came by and visited from 6 feet apart while standing on the patio, outdoors.

MAY 2020:

We continued to hunker down, create memes, use Instacart and the services of the kind young women in our community who shopped for us middle-agers. Myhusband and I recovered from our viruses, and contemplated donating convalescent plasma at the local hospital. The health agency where I work held almost daily meetings for Q and A and other support groups.

At the end of the month, our city (and country) was overwhelmingly affected by the riots after the George Floyd tragedy. Black Lives Matter became a topic of debate and the social media rooms were embroiled with arguments and debates.

JUNE 2020:

The Shavuos holiday came and went and we celebrated quietly again with just our immediate family. Our children continued to visit with masks and out on the patio, with some venturing closer for small family gatherings in our backyard.

Our youngest son and his wife had a baby boy, and we celebrated from afar. Since traveling was not allowed, we couldn’t attend the bris, but we enjoyed the photos they sent to us.

Our son who had had the diagnosis in the earlier part of the year, had a relapse and needed several months of treatment which began a few weeks later.

JULY/AUGUST 2020- With the weather getting warmer, I went swimming almost daily, and enjoyed the much needed exercise. I began the editing process of my new book (more on that later).

Our son had his intense treatments and needless to say, lost his hair. Thank G-d, the treatment did the trick, and we are all very grateful.

SEPTEMBER 2020

The holidays of Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur brought a reprieve from COVID as we attended shul/synagogue in outdoor gatherings and/or intense social distancing. It was an intense form of davening/praying as we felt the gloom of the plague upon us and prayed for a happy and healthy New Year.

OCTOBER 2020

Our grandson in NY had his bar mitzvah and my husband and I went to NJ for the bar mitzvah party held in an outdoor garden with close friends and family in attendance. It was a beautiful celebration and we were and are so proud of our grandson who is growing up to be a delightful young man.

NOVEMBER 2020:

Everyone was obsessed with the election and between that and COVID and the newly developed vaccines were the topics of conversation. And fodder for many arguments.

DECEMBER 2020:

Chanukah celebrations with minimal parties, but lots of light. Light of the menorah and light of hope for a bright future.

And now we face the New Year of 2021, and lots of good thing in the future. With my new book coming soon in February 2021, I look forward to announcing it soon. As you may have seen on my home page of this website, it’s called “Best Foot Forward” – How my broken bone back in 2014 (yes, 7 years ago!) changed my life forever.

Stay tuned for more in early 2021!