I can fully admit January 2023 would have been a more appropriate time for this post. Then I think back to the parade of struggles cartwheeling through 2022 and give myself some grace for not posting sooner. The year started well enough with high hopes and grand plans. Then there began the struggle of assuming the mortgage that had been in my late husband's name. The stress from that triggered debilitating headaches, which were a product of histamine intolerance. I was able to control it by completely changing my diet and making everything from scratch. Oh, and I went back to homeschooling my son during this time as well.
Just as the mortgage issues and the headaches became manageable, I came down with Covid for the first time. I had severe symptoms that lasted over two weeks. It took another three months to fully recover.
Just as I was able to go out in public again, a tree fell on my car, which was parked in front of my house. The tree actually fell on the house first, but there was no damage thanks to our steel roof. A microburst from a thunderstorm did extensive damage to the trees in our area. The power was out and the road was blocked in both directions. I couldn't have gone anywhere even if my car had been drivable.
Our elderly cat passed away at the end of the summer and Fesche Lola needed three emergency visits to the vet.
And these are just the things I'm willing to talk about publicly.
It was a hard year, but it ended well. Our new kitten, which we adopted in October, was lost the last two weeks of December. I filed a lost report with Animal Services, printed up flyers, and alerted the neighbors. We were reunited with him on New Year's Eve because a kind woman found him and filed a found report with Animal Services.
Looking back on it, the whole year was like that. Something terrible or arduous would happen, but it wasn't the end of the world. My neighbor dropped off groceries and medicine when I was too sick to go out. Friends helped clean up fallen trees and gave us rides until I could get another car (mine was totaled). We made wonderful new friends going to homeschool activities. I worked hard on the things that were within my control. Friends, neighbors, and kind strangers helped me with the things that were beyond me.
The struggles didn't stop just because the calendar rolled over to a new year. On the hard days, I think about all that happened last year and how we made it through. It's all going to be okay. Things may change in a way I don't expect. Our living circumstances may end up being different. It's going to be okay.