Peaceful Sunset

Dear readers:

It’s been a while since I blogged. It’s time to talk about twenty-twenty, the year, not eye problems; even though, I have dry eye. Who knows? Maybe I even have cataracts, no telling. Anyway, I’m talking about 2020. Please pray that 2021 will not be a repeat of last year.

January 2020, fibromyalgia my stubborn friend paid me a visit. My muscles painfully tightened, so my doctor prescribed physical therapy. It was at this time that I heard about the first few cases of coronavirus entering the US and the ridiculous comments made by the president. In spite of the fear of contracting Covid-19, I went to the physical therapy sessions. Late February, I still had not recovered from my fibromyalgia flare-up. I needed another month of physical therapy, but being a scientist, I considered Covid-19 a real threat and did not continue therapy.

March came around and things around the world exploded with comments about how to deal with the coronavirus, so my husband, my sister, and I immediately followed the physicians’s and scientists’s recommendations. Soon we found ourselves under strict lockdown. My husband shopped on the Internet for food and ordered curbside service while I cared for my sister and pets. I worried about my husband contracting the virus when he went for our food supplies and other staples, such as toilet paper (hard to find), hand sanitizers, and bacterial sprays.

During these days, I did not attend any massage therapy sessions. I requested help from The National Massage Chain, who helped me by freezing my account for a few months. This was nice of them. I had been a member for many years, but I was worried about contracting Covid-19 and transmitting it to my husband and sister; therefore, I discussed my concerns with the national group and the local massage managers. They offered me a special deal; however, I did not approve the terms, so I canceled my membership and lost six paid massages. That’s a lot of money to throw away, especially from a person who grew up in an impoverished neighborhood, but life happens. About all I can do is to pray that these folks will reconsider and give me an opportunity to use the massages that I’ve already paid for.

April came around with a fury. My sister fell at her home, twice. The second time, she broke her shoulder and had surgery. She spent some time at a rehab center, and I tried to get her up here to Fort Worth. That didn’t happen. My sister-in-law wanted to take care of her. Why? I don’t know. After much discussion and retaining a lawyer, we lost. My sister was released to my in-laws. Later, my sister-in-law changed her mind. One day she called to tell me that she could not take care of my sister, and that she was placing her in a nursing home. “During a pandemic?” I asked myself. I didn’t want the person who took care of me, as a kid, and my parents, to contract Covid-19, so Memorial Day weekend, my husband and I drove to Brownsville, and picked up my sister. In Fort Worth, a psychiatrist determined that she has Alzheimer’s. (In 2016, when I was finally able to travel after breaking a hip from a fall, I visited her. I noticed that she had a memory problem, but I was not able to take her to see a doctor.) May and September, my husband and I spent a lot of time trying to recover the medical information that my sister lost or had not updated. We are still working on this in 2021.

August came around, and my dear brother, Hector, passed away during this horrible Covid-19 pandemic. I miss him, but I know he’s happy in Heaven with my older brother, and my parents. I’m losing my sister little by little. Her short term memory is declining. I truly sympathize and pray for the folks who have lost loved ones through Covid-19, medical problems, and careless police officers. I can only wonder how these people must feel since I haven’t recovered from losing my brothers!

September through December, my husband and I are still dealing with the government so my sister can acquire benefits that she deserves. We filled out a form so she could get her 2020 stimulus check, but so far she hasn’t received it. Why? I have no clues!

By now, dear readers, your eyesight is suffering from reading my blog, so I better end my griping (negativity). “Think positively,” I tell myself. I’m alive. My sister is at home. At the moment, she’s watching the “Twilight Zone” marathon. (I’ve seen a few episodes. I loved seeing the show when I was a kid.) I’m thankful that she’s healthy’ It’s her brain that is causing her problems. Fortunately, she loves my cat and foxhound, gets along with friends, my husband, and the neighbors, especially their pets. Moreover, she’s here where we can help her if she needs anything. I’m also grateful that my husband and I are well. I’m thankful that I have friends who have helped us in so many ways.

Today is the Feast of the Wise Men, those pious men who took the Baby Jesus gifts that winter when he was born in a manger. Today marks the end of the Christmas Season, full of festivities and Mexican customs, especially eating roscas (bread) and tamales. As I looked forward to a new year free of all the atrocities Americans had endured for 4 years, I was taken aback when the president’s supporters attacked the White House this morning. Never in my wildest dreams did I expect anarchy to take place in America. This occurrence made sad, but it also made me feel proud that I am an American; therefore, I am ending my blog with a patriotic song that I love.

I wish you the best of times in 2021. May this year be a successful delight for all of us!

America the Beautiful

O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!

America! America!
God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

O beautiful for pilgrim feet
Whose stern impassion’d stress
A thorough fare for freedom beat
Across the wilderness.

America! America!
God mend thine ev’ry flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law.

O beautiful for heroes prov’d
In liberating strife,
Who more than self their country loved,
And mercy more than life.

America! America!
May God thy gold refine
Till all success be nobleness,
And ev’ry gain divine.

O beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears.

America! America!
God shed his grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea.