In what ways did you determine to make the most of the down-time brought on by the effects, i.e., restrictions of the pandemic; rather than, count this as a “lost” year?
- “That just would not have been fun. Making phone calls for World Renew brought blessings. I also called women who were alone, and had some lovely chats.”
- “Taking time to read some books which I had been wanting to read, but there always seemed to be something else to do, until now when there wasn’t.”
- “I could finally get some jobs done that were on my list for a long time.”
- “We made a plan, on paper, what jobs we could accomplish now while we are not too busy. We look forward to a day when we are all caught up!”
- “Our answer is very much coloured by the fact that we don’t have jobs to go to or children/grandchildren living in our home who are attending school; so, as part of the retired bunch we have not felt the sense of a lost year so much.”
- “Because we were in the midst of a major renovation, it didn’t feel like a lost year; as out of necessity, our focus had to be on coordinating the trades and making sure all the ducks were
in line to keep the work going.” - “Simply carry on with life as normal as possible and take it one day at a time being thankful for all I have.”
- “Tried to relax more without feeling guilty about not working.”
- “Finally got all those random photos and slides in place.
- “Every minute of life is precious, so I don’t consider anything lost time no matter in how mundane way we may spend that time.”
- “I had the opportunity to take some online courses that wouldn’t have happened otherwise.”
- “Because we had time, we finally made funeral arrangements. One less thing for the kids to worry about.”
- “I thoroughly vetted our files and documents and shredded what wasn’t needed and I finally started work on a “Just in Case” binder.”
- “We tried to stay active and engaged whenever possible. Tried to keep a positive attitude, knowing that this too shall pass. It has been challenging at times, but we feel blessed that we have managed to get through this with few scars to show and look forward to better days ahead.”
- “Working through our prepared list “things that need to be done when we have time.”
- “Trying to live life as “normal” as we can. Trying to make the best of the restrictions by being creative/resourceful if needed. Bedtime stories with grandkids on Zoom, canoeing (each in their own canoe) with family members down a river while counting turtles, roasting marshmallows around a propane “campfire” with grandkids in the winter.
- “My down time was actually minimal.”
- Completely overhauled gardens. Renovation projects. Painting projects. Downsizing and Decluttering. Undertook regular exercise programs. More hiking.
In quick strokes:
- The term “lost year” could more aptly be applied to the past school year as experienced by a great many if not all of the students (elementary, high school, post-secondary). The consensus is that they did not receive a quality education. Between the rotating strikes and the school closures due to the pandemic, many young people lost their motivation for learning. They will start their next school year behind, for sure. It will be some time before the full effects will be known. The effects of a long secondary teachers’ strike sometime in the 1980s – 1990s, 1987(?), before our own children were in high school, led to quite a number of young people leaving the school system when they found they couldn’t catch up. That was life-changing. We hope and pray the government does what it can to help the students; though, the past year does appear to show their preference to concentrate on the economy, rather than students or the elderly.
- For us Boomers, it looks like once we put our mind to it, we came up with plenty of ideas to fill our time constructively.
For your listening pleasure:
A Hazy Shade of Winter Simon and Garfunkel (with lyrics)