Tag: Covid-19

One of the overall common themes this past year for nearly everyone I know, has been grief. From the loss of graduation celebrations to activities with friends, to jobs, to the hundreds of thousands who have lost loved ones, the losses experienced have been countless. One of the unique aspects of 2020, and there were many, is the fact that these losses, on some level, have been experienced by everyone. We are not alone in our grief. We are a grieving community, a grieving country, a grieving world.

Like all experiences of grief, we will not simply forget with time or just eventually get over it, but we can, and we will get through it. We can get through it, we can heal, and we can become stronger and more resilient because of our experience.

More than ever before, most of us must be far more creative in holiday gift-giving this year!

You may be one of those who hasn't ventured out to a shopping mall because of Covid-19 or just maybe, you are someone who dislikes shopping online. If you fall into either of those categories or yet another—one of those who simply don’t have the funds for a holiday spree—the following are a handful of suggestions of what you can give your significant other this holiday season. All of these recommendations are likely to mean a lot more to the person you love because they all require a highly personalized touch.

A friend of mine broke her upper arm recently. Considering she’s a massage therapist who’s been out of work on and off all year due to COVID-19; plus having a hastily re-organized virtual wedding as opposed to the long planned-for wedding of her dreams; along with the death of her beloved grandmother; this was just one more "yikes!" she has had to deal with. She feels like she’s been tossed around like a rag doll by events. Nothing like the calm, ordered, happy life she’s experienced most of her adulthood.

Whether you have to talk to your children about their disappointment as you tell them this year's holiday customs won't be the same as what they have been in the past (because of an in-progress divorce or the restrictions the Covid-19 pandemic has presented, or both), it’s often hard to know what to say to them. The appropriate approach largely depends on your child’s age. Disappointment is easier on the very young (a toddler) as opposed to a teenager who has learned to process some disappointment, hardship or rejection over their relatively short life.

"To open or not to open, that is the question." Shakespeare is probably rolling in his grave at my lamentable misuse of his famous “To be or not to be” but these days "To open or not to open" IS the question. And it is driving most of us absolutely crazy.