2020 Owes Us an Apology….but…..

As we head into the final week of 2020, do you find yourself saying, as so many are saying, 2020 owes us an apology? What a year.

We certainly have experienced loss in our circle from COVID, as so many have and it has not been an easy year for anyone. The impact of everything COVID; from health to economy, to one of the most brutal election years ever, has left so many in pain and questioning…….well…….everything.

One of the things that I have known since the day Kaitlyn was diagnosed in 1992, is that we cannot do anything about the things that enter our lives………but WHAT we do with it defines how we will end up on the other side.

I’m not speaking of some pie-in-the-sky-life-with-rose-colored-glasses, but I am speaking of trying to move forward at all costs. Sickness, isolation, pain, loss, death cannot merely be wiped away by just sayng ‘life is good’. But what might help is to try taking a few minutes to understand what we DO HAVE as being as important of what we have lost. Take that time. Daily if needed.

Outside of listening to the news to stay informed, I have avoided being sucked into the who is right and who is wrong trying to focus on how to play a role in doing good. Helping someone or a group who have less than you do, is a great way to nurse your spirit back to health. Trust me, there are others who have less and are doing with much less than what you have. If I have learned anything about life, as unfair as it is at times, it’s much more unfair to others. Find those people, and through your pain or anger, help them. In any way small or large, help someone else.

Call someone you have not talked with in a while. Hearing that voice can be heaven. Just hearing someone REALLY want to know how you are does wonders for your heart. So make that/a call. You will be glad you did.

Find someone who inspires you. An author. A writer. A friend. And read something they wrote. Mine came from a most unlikely choice. I came across, Actually, I Can, by Morgan Panzirer almost by accident. I saw it online and what caught my attention was the title; Actually, I Can. It seemed ike a pretty bold statement from any author much less one in her late teens. Almost from the first sentence you feel Ms. Panzirer pull up a chair and sitting across from you she figuratively challenges; “let’s talk”.

At her young age, she has incredible insight which she doles out to each reader as her self-advice she shares in her autobiographical account of dealing with her type 1 diabetes. She holds nothing back sharing her highs and lows (pun intended) regarding her life. She knows she comes from a family that has allotted her much, but she shares in neither a boastful or apolegetic manner. In speaking of living with diabetes she writes, “It has made me appreciate every hour, every minute, and every second I stand on this Earth.” In these most troubled times, her understanding that anything we have should be appreciated, is an important lesson, and in many ways it is taken for granted.

And Ms. Panzirer is correct. Whatever we have should be appreciated. 2020 has allowed me to meet incrdible colleagues who have joined the DRIF, where I work, as well as those with whom I have diligently worked side-by-side for years. People who I have yet to meet in person due to COVID, who have shared their knowledge and drive to indeed keep us focusing on a cure for diabetes. It WILL NOT be here tomorrow but we will stay at it, because someone must. 2020 has introduced me to our granddaughter, who is just the brightest light ever. 2020 has been cruel as much as it has given. 2020 showed an unyielding spirit of those who care (my kids being some of them) in the dragon’s den of fire, they persevere. These people are all heroes.

In 2021, things will not be ‘righted’ very quickly at all, it will take months. A teen-age author reminded me of how much we should appreciate what IS here……..for THAT, I know I am truly blessed and you my friends are part of what I most certainly do cherish in life. Happy New Year and may 2021 move us forward as in hindsght…………2020, becomes just that.
I am a diabetes dad.
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