Hope for the best in the upcoming year

It is hard to believe that it has been almost two years since I have hugged my daughter and her family. Watching people on a screen is not a good substitute for actually getting to touch them. We are social creatures and it is difficult to stay apart. If anyone wants to divide this country nothing can compare with what this virus has done.

I have had all three shots and so far have managed to avoid the virus. In addition to getting vaccinated I have limited my exposure to others. I stay in the house or out in the yard. I wear the hated masks when necessary. So far it has worked.

Menu planning has become a challenge. I go in search of new recipes, and when I find one that sounds good, I amass the needed ingredients. After actually following the directions, which in itself isn’t normal, I take the first bite. It is delicious. So is the second bite. The third bite is a problem. The food gets halfway to my mouth and it is the most repulsive stuff I have ever seen or smelled. So much for being delicious. The remainder of dinner gets put into the fridge. Once it grows fuzz it goes into the trash.

My daughter and her family are avid hunters. They fill their freezer with various cuts of venison that they use the rest of the year. I probably shouldn’t but I tease my son-in-law about killing Bambi’s family. This causes Bambi to turn rogue. Bambi then recruits random suicidal deer to jump in front of cars and trucks. This year my daughter, Beth, her sons Jacob and Nicholas, and surprisingly her daughter, Emma, all killed their deer days before son-in-law shot one for himself.

Usually when they go hunting Emma declines to pick up a rifle even though she prefers venison to almost any other meat. That is why I was so surprised when I saw the picture of Emma and Beth both showing off their prizes.

Emma turns 16 in a few days. I don’t understand how that can be. It wasn’t that long ago that I was at the airport, heading to Texas to meet her for the first time. I called my mom on an airport phone. I yelled into the phone that Beth had a girl. Of course, she couldn't hear me. I called back the following day and finally got through to her that she was now a great-grandmother.

Emma is now taller than her mom. She is artistic and occasionally poetic. She has more self-assuredness than I ever dreamed of. She has been to her first prom and has her driver’s permit. In a couple of years she will be on her own. She is an amazing young lady. I just wish we could see her more often.

The boys, Jacob, Nicholas, and bonus grandson Nate are all doing well, Nate has graduated and is working at a hardware store. The last picture I saw of all three boys showed three handsome guys. 

OK, so the youngest, Nicholas, looks more mischievous than handsome. Then again, Nicholas has those darling dimples that make him irresistible.

I think that most of what makes me so uneasy is that things are now topsy-turvy. What we were taught in school is now wrong. A book containing words that are no longer acceptable is banned instead of explained. The bad guys are now the good guys. I am confused.

I am hoping that the new year will be better. I want to read about small kindnesses. I want to understand why a kid decides to shoot people. I want every person who owns a gun to come up with a valid plan to keep people from shooting each other.

I want peace on earth, goodwill towards men to be something we strive for every day instead of for a few days in December. I want this coming year to be better than the last one. I also want to wish my granddaughter a very happy birthday.