So – that was 2020 eh!
Not the year the majority of us expected or would have wished for but reaching the end of it seems like we have achieved something – even if we didn’t set out to do that.
The year began in a very positive way, as all new years seem to do.
January dawned bright and clear and fresh and saw me in school invigilating. Nigel and I and the cats enjoyed being at home and we were horrified to hear of the terrible bush fires in Australia. I joined a support group and began crocheting pouches and baby bird nests to help as crafters around the world united. We didn’t travel far from home. I wonder if would have done so had we known what was to come.
February saw bad storms and two of our fence posts in addition to panels gave up the ghost and we had to make emergency repairs and hunker down. We began to hear of a virus in China that appeared to be coming a cause for concern. By March it was obvious it was serious. I continued to work invigilating until the schools closed and had no idea it would be my last work. Nigel’s work also stopped and again, we didn’t know at that point that he would decided never to return. We started being very cautious and then, as we all know, lockdown was ordered and the world changed forever. We hunkered down, more fortunate than many, as we had each other, we had a safe home – albeit with a shoddy fence line- food on the table, places to exercise and we were safe. Our fur babies, Kira and Fiki were in our bubble, and we learnt new phrases like lockdown, furlough, isolation, social distances, quarantine and worst of all pandemic, Coronavirus and COVID. We watched daily briefings and shuddered as the daily figures rose here and across the world. We had contact with no-one, we hunkered down and stayed safe. Food shelves were emptied for a while and toilet rolls became the new gold! Panic buying was rife. New routines included masks and gloves for Nigel when he shopped, groceries all washed down with a bleach solution and post quarantined. We cancelled our holiday booked for later in the year as the borders were closed.
we did so many jobs round the house and garden
we cut each other's hair
we clapped and banged
we made up or own entertainment
Nigel was prohibited from seeing his Mom in the care home and sadly we lost her in May. Not Covid related and, in many ways a blessing as she had long since ceased to be mum really, but made all the harder because it happened in lockdown and we were all so isolated. Nigel had not been able to see her for many weeks due to lockdown and whilst the loss would have still been as acute, it made it harder. He did, however, feel that he had said farewell to his Mom a long time ago and the lady he used to go and visit, whilst lovely, was not the mom he knew. We also lost my dear cousin Joyce, very quickly and suddenly and my best friend lost her father. It was year of loss for us and for so many many people.
We helped neighbours and all clapped every week for our beleaguered NHS staff and key workers who soldiered on and saw us through the crisis peak at huge personal expense. We were separated from people and yet in many ways closer than we had ever been. Nigel and his brothers had video calls a few times each week, Nigel zoomed with speedway friends, I zoomed with my scrapping friends and we had weekly family quiz nights with my family. Restrictions were gradually eased and some sort of normal returned though we never stopped being careful and really had contact with no one.Crochet, jigsaw, baking - who'd have thought what would bring us pleasure in 2020
VE day celebrated in a neighbour’s garden was socially distanced as were celebrations for 60th birthdays, anniversaries and socially distanced walks with friends became a new normal. There was a brief hiatus for us as we celebrated my 60th at The Big Cat Sanctuary, which seemed like a dream come true. We carried on through the rest of the year staying as safe as we could.
It was a year of health issues as I struggled with an abscess and infected root canal which needed numerous treatments and a lot of pain killers and I had a health scare towards the end of the year resulting in a hospital stay where thankfully everything proved clear.
We did, however, enjoy some lovely safe days out in 2020
August saw our cats have their annual booster vaccination and for us it was a pivotal point in our year. A possible bad reaction saw both cats very ill. We thought we had lost Kira at one point but in true Leahy Cat form, they rallied slightly, but throughout September Fiki's breathing seemed to get worse and worse and we spent much of September at the vets with both of them. Various things were tried but late Monday evening 28th September Fiki was in distress and we made the decision to go to the emergency vets. It was incredibly hard and seemed so sudden to say goodbye to our big brave boy. He had been a constant in our lives for 17 years. He was such a character – so naughty, so tenacious, so loving, so gentle. He was our first ever boy cat and he was loved not just but us but by so many cyber aunties across the scrapping community.
We thought saying goodbye to him was the hardest things we had ever had to do. But then there was Kira. Kira seemed to enjoy being an only child at first, relishing she got Mummy’s knee all to herself, but the happiness was short lived as she developed eating issues. We were to and fro for blood tests and checks and there seemed to be nothing wrong with her mouth, her teeth, her throat, but she had trouble eating. At first she couldn’t cope with crunchies, then she couldn’t eat the chunks of meat in felix and so we went onto fresh cooked fish for a week or two, then that was an issue so we switched to soft pate and mousse which worked for a while as she could lick it, then that was even too much and we had to go to cat soup where she couldn’t eat any of the pieces but just drink the liquid. The hardest things of all was she seemed happy. She snuggled, she purred, she played but she was losing weight and muscle tone rapidly and in one week, towards the end, lost 11% of her body weight and we knew we couldn’t carry on. When the last drug they could try was a disaster making her into a zombie who couldn’t walk, we knew what we had to do, but it was the hardest of all because it wasn’t clear cut. Saying goodbye to my little girl was the hardest things I have ever had to do and I cry for her, and for Fiki, every single day.
Having always suffered with anxiety issues 2020 tipped me over the edge at several points and, had it not been for the wonderful man who I am blessed to share my life with I would simply not have coped with life at all. He brought me back from the brink many many times and his belief in us is what kept us going.
And so to the end of what had been an unprecedented year for everyone. So many people have lost loved ones, have seen their jobs vanish, their businesses fold, their plans cancelled, their children suffer from being away from school for so long. So many have developed mental health issues due to the worry, the isolation, the fear. It has been hard for people around the whole world and is a year we are all keen to see end. But there is also light at the end of the tunnel. Two vaccines have now been approved and the vaccination programme is underway. They tell us it will afford some protection even with only one of the two jabs. The higher restrictions now as most of the country is in Tier 4 should help prevent the spread of the new variant (though I feel a full lockdown would be better) and Brexit is finally done and dusted.
And for us – well for us we have hope in our new fur family. Having collected our two little boys, Indy and Koda, on 22nd December, we are watching these two nervous little kittens who were scared of everything blossom into two playful little boys who actively seek out Mommy and Daddy for play and cuddles. They will never replace Kira and Fiki but are ‘as well as ’ … our hearts had lots of love love left to give and we were never destined to be a cat free house. These two little boys epitomise hope for us and we have new adventures to make together.
Who know what 2021 will hold. No-one saw this coming and our world transforming. But I am confident that, with Nigel by my side and holding me up and two little boys to shower love on, there is hope for a new year. And despite everything - there was so much to be thankful for in 2020
- home
- the love of two 17 year old cats and two tiny kittens
- safety
- days out
- friends and family
- hobbies and interests
- my soul mate, my love, my best friend, my Nigel
I wish all of my readers peace and thank you for continuing to visit my blog and share my journey. I pray that 2021 is filled with health and happiness, love and laughter for all of you.
