Christmas Newsletter 2021

This year has been full of lots of ups and downs. It seems like this year was longer than most because of health issues.

January:
We returned home to SC so we could go to a couple of doctor/dentist appointments, pay taxes, and check on the house. We only planned on staying for two weeks. At the end of the month, we caught Covid-19. I had a fever for one day but Don had one for a total of 12 days. We thought his fever might have been from the tooth he had pulled that had abscessed. After 10 days of a high fever, he went to the doctor and was diagnosed with Covid. They didn’t give him anything other than to tell him to stay hydrated. 2 days later, his fever was gone.

February:
We just spent the month recuperating. Neither one of us had any energy and very little appetite. Once we got our taste back, we ate anything we wanted. I guess it was comfort food. At the end of the month, we returned to FL.

March:
The sun and the warmth of FL were good for recuperation. We didn’t do much other than enjoy the weather. Don attended his stamp club meetings which made him happy.

April:
We returned to SC and were feeling better. We did go camping for a week in the Smokies. Hikes were shorter than we usually do because our energy levels and stamina were still low. The weather was perfect though the entire week.

May:
Don had cataract surgery on both eyes. They did the surgeries 2 weeks apart and I had to administer the drops in his eyes, That was not a fun time for either of us! The 2 weeks between surgeries were really hard for Don because his vision was not clear at all so I did all of the driving.

June:
A few days after his last surgery, we left for our trip to Minnesota. Since his vision was still not clear, I did all of the driving for 4000 miles. We had a wonderful trip and saw fabulous things. We even stayed at the Kettle Falls Hotel in the park which is only accessible by boat. We spent a week in Rochester, MN for my knitting retreat and it was wonderful to see all of my friends again.

July:
I taught my Practicum class in person. It was so nice to have it in person instead of online. I really missed the children and my students. I had a great bunch of teachers this year and it was a fun class the whole time. During this month, Don was diagnosed with diabetes and the doctor agreed to let him lower his sugar through diet and exercise before trying medicine.

August:
Don had surgery on his eyes to fine-tune and adjust his vision. This seemed to help. Of course, this kept us from doing anything fun the whole month since we were dealing with eye drops and warm compresses. I applied for Social Security which was exciting for me. We worked on some things that needed to be done around the house.

September:
We went to the Apple Festival in Hendersonville. Don had his final surgery on his eyes and he was cleared by the doctor until his check-up next year. We went to a couple of Furman football games and it was so nice to be able to do this again.

October:
We started preparing for our trip to FL. My 40th Furman homecoming was held at Furman but nothing special was planned. We did have dinner with my friend, Nan Hannah and we had a great time. I was glad to see so many of my old friends again. Our new neighbors, Molly, Trevor, and little Eloise moved in across the street. I’m glad we had some time to get to know them before heading to FL. We left for FL on Halloween.

November:
We stayed a week in Kissimmee and just relaxed. We visited a lot of antique stores and even a yarn store. One day we went to Merritt Island and visited Carol and Becky. Their house was so lovely! When we got to our Beach House, we spent a lot of time working around the house. Don and our neighbor Bob, rescreened the front porch and it looks awesome! Don and I scrubbed the back fence and shed which was really hard work. There was a lot of mildew and lichens on both. We also trimmed the bushes, pulled all the weeds off the side fences, and did some weeding. Thanksgiving was quiet and we had an egg omelet and bacon for dinner.

December.
We met my cousins Wayne and Lorraine for dinner and it was so nice seeing them again. We had not seen them for 2 years! We put up the Christmas tree and stockings inside. We also put Christmas lights around the dining room window. It looks very festive. I’m enjoying all the Christmas music and Christmas movies during this time of year.

It has been a roller coaster year for us but with more positives than negatives.

May you have a blessed Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Photo by Lynda Hinton on Unsplash