I will not say “what a year!” It sounds so cliché – so redundant now.
We exhaust ourselves saying it. We exhausted ourselves living it. But if you are reading this, we did live it, and we are thankfully still here to talk about it.
Instead, as we approach New Year’s Eve I will say “I have never been happier to see a year over with in my life!”
Even the worse years I have suffered did not include the world suffering along with me and although that fact made our lives so much harder, it did teach us, we are one, how insanely lucky and clueless we have been, and how quickly what we take for granted and love can screech to a halt.
This year cut our lives down to size. I hope our world has learned that lesson well.
Although the months of 2020 seemed to drag on like a continuous loop of Groundhog Days, when I look back at the months of little or no physical contact with our kids and friends, and the zapped creativity or motivation I suffered, I must admit, the year held beacons of light. For me it was not all COVID-19 related uncertainty and loss of what we considered normal. I, like so many of you, have experienced, despite the worry for our loved ones, some very wonderful things that happened along the way.
I do know for certain that I learned to appreciate all of you who stayed in my life and by my side and supported me in my writing during this time. You assured me my words were important and that my story deserved to be told. You kept me working on my book and ultimately finishing it. You are the ones who pushed me to submit my work and I did. What a scary thing that was for this new author – me.
After three years and 5 drafts I realized I had finished my book. I submitted it and sent out to a handful of manuscripts to Beta Readers (by the way they brightened my days with their reviews and critiques, and I am ever grateful). I had zoom conversations with editors, publishers and agents about my book summaries and they all instilled confidence in me. I submitted to a publisher I had admired from afar and this Fall I signed a publishing contract with that very publisher and Yes! my book will be published and available in the Spring of 2022.
What a journey and what a learning curve for me this writing has been. Many a day I shake my head and think how lucky can I be to have this sparkling new writing life after living all the other lives I have? And I marvel at the fact, it really is never too late.
During all of my book angst another amazing blessing occurred in our lives when our tenth grandchild arrived in the midst of summer, COVID-19 everywhere. Brand new baby Arthur! A reason to rejoice and to see life continuing in such a miraculous yet perfectly normal way. For all time, the universal hope for the future has been a new life.
Then yesterday I celebrated 40 years of marriage with my dear husband, Gene and although it was a quiet and simple celebration of just us two, it was glorious and just what it needed to be. My best gift of all is the health of Gene and myself along with our family’s steady well-being in such a year. That enough brings me tears of joy and whispers in my ear “keep the faith.”
So dear friends I thank all of you for reading my words for awaiting my book and with renewed and gracious heart I say farewell to a devil year and welcome with open arms a year that promises to have rejuvenated faith in our country and our world. Hope is tangible in the air and I take in great gulps of it.
My wish for you in 2021 is never-ending faith and hope, a renewed love of life, and of many family and friend gatherings once again with a celebration of a kinder, healthier world.
Laura L. Engel
Dec 2, 2020