One Year

 Anniversaries are hard. If you are struggling this week then it’s because of that. Anniversaries of loss are very difficult. 

We spend our whole lives marking the progress of each year. Birthdays, wedding anniversaries, the birth of a new year are all to be celebrated but when the thing that happened on this date is a loss then the desire to mark the date isn’t any less strong but it is inappropriate to celebrate. It doesn’t stop us though. We think and mull over our grief and have a few rubbish days.

The photo on my phone from a year ago

It’s been a year since Boris Johnson appeared on the TV, scared the bejesus out of us and ordered us to stay at home. It’s been a year when many people died. It’s been a difficult year for most people. At that time 335 people had died and even with the restrictions that we have lived by we are now nearing the 150,000 death mark. Mathematical forecasters feel their prediction that it would have been 500,000 is left unchecked are vindicated. Focusing solely on deaths doesn’t even begin to take into account the full toll of the pandemic. The severe restrictions have damaged mental well being and the economy and several people are taking longer to recover from the illness than we would expect. 

Boris says we should mark the day in whatever way seems appropriate. He’s thinking of keeping silent for one whole minute, which will be W relief to all of us. London is going to light up the town yellow, like an enormous pus-filled city. Even our little historic town hall will be lit up. I find it ironic that the lights will be turned on above the embroidered lightbulbs that have been placed around town to inform people about Earth Hour on Sunday, when environmental campaigners want us to take action to prevent the even bigger disaster heading our way but I understand that people need to mark this day.

In celebration of the year (and inspired by the lightbulbs) I took up embroidery. 

It was a kit but the words are my own.