Looking Back

The end of the year is rapidly approaching and as I look back at how this crazy 2021 has been, I also can’t help thinking about all the big, little things that made my year. So here is a little rewind of my favorite things this year, in this specific order:

1. Vaccinations! For everyone in my family. Such a relief; so needed, and so wanted…
2. Going back to school IN PERSON. Our year of Zoom was so awful for students, parents, and teachers, that going back that first day and seeing the kids’ smiling faces, albeit the masks, felt like Christmas morning, my birthday, and winning the lottery all in one!
3. All the books I read. Among my favorites, Pachinko (Min Jin Lee), Daisy Jones and the Six (Taylor Jenkins Reid), One Two Three (Laurie Frankel), A Good Neighborhood (Therese Ann Fowler), and Ellie and the Harpmaker (Hazel Prior).
4. My favorite podcast, The Moth, which features stories from people all over the world, went back live on stage. Loved to hear so many new stories about the pandemic, love and connection, and many other shared experiences.
5. The amazingly interesting shows I’ve watched. I was hooked to a few blockbusters like Squid Game, Firefly Lane, or Maid, but I also waited earnestly for (and subsequently binged) the new season of Modern Love and The Handmaid’s Tale. Currently I am really enjoying Dopesick, a limited series about Oxycontin, Purdue Pharma, and the opioid crisis in the US.
6. Finally, all the kittens I’ve fostered this year. Among the cats and kittens that we’ve had at home this year, one was a pregnant mama who gave birth to five little fur babies in one of our hall closets and another litter needed to be bottle fed! Truly a purrr-fect foster year.

So what have been your favorites? Please share, I’d love to hear all the simple, happy things that happened to you all in 2021.

Maite