It’s New Year’s Eve as I write this final post of 2021. With mere hours left before we collectively not only flip the calendar page to a new month but begin an entirely brand new calendar, I want to reflect on the good, bad, and fun of this past year.

It’s impossible to not begin with the bad that has cast a dark cloud (or more) over everything—good, bad, or otherwise—for everyone everywhere for another year. That being Covid, of course.

Thankfully I have not lost any loved ones to Covid, despite a few family members testing positive at various time. The continued lingering of the virus did, though, keep me from seeing many loved ones during large family gatherings. We had small ones with only immediate family, for the most part. I miss the extended family.

To get the bad out of the way, I’ll mention one other from 2021. We said goodbye to our sweet Abby in September. We had 18 years with her—two years as our only cat, the only time we’d had just one for as far back as I can remember. With her passing, this is the first time in 38 years we have not had a cat. We won’t get another for multiple reasons (being tired of litterbox duty being a big one, despite the tremendous difference it made using Pretty Litter.)

The good in 2021 thankfully outnumbered the bad. Top of the list being, as I already mentioned, we lost no one to Covid. We lost no one to anything. Thank you, God, as I know many were not as fortunate.

Also on the good list, I became a published author for the first time. And the second time. My first book, The First-Time Grandmother’s Journal, came out in February. My second book, 100 Things I Love About Grandma, came out December 7. I was incredibly blessed to have been approached by the publisher to write these two books. (Now the pressure is on for me to keep up the momentum to some degree in 2022!)

More good of note: I’m beyond fortunate to receive the medication to treat my multiple sclerosis for free. Via the maker. I don’t understand how all that works as the list price for my biannual infusions of Ocrevus is more than $68,000 yet they provide it to me for free. This is my second year on it, and I’m doing okay. May 2022 will mark thirty years (yes, 30!) since my MS diagnosis, and I’ve been far from okay many years on many different medications in that time.

Additional good highlights of 2021 overlap with those I tag fun, all related to the precious time Jim and I had with precious people. Here, just a few:

We celebrated Jim’s 60th in style with the all our daughters, their husbands, our grandchildren—a full-family gathering like never before.

We celebrated other family birthdays together, too.

Benjamin turned THREE with family fun at the zoo

Not only did we have a springtime visit from our Arizona grandsons (for Jim’s birthday) at our place, we enjoyed a fall visit at their place, too—including successful fishing, their first time casting and catching.

Brayden, my first grandson, is as tall as me!!

We delighted in a brief Thanksgiving time visit with a much missed nephew and niece and their loved ones.

We gathered with local loved ones to celebrate Christmas together (in contrast to the separate drop-gifts-and-go BS of 2020).

We enjoyed the heck out of most Thursdays, my day dedicated to watching Benjamin and Robert—which Jim reaps the benefits of when arriving home from work.