It is Christmas eve 2020. There is no snow, it is just raining day after day. The Virus has been around now for one year and the whole world has changed dramatically. But it is still Christmas, the season of traditions, silence, except Christmas carols, and the mandatory isolation has force many families to come together, with no possibilities to escape Finland and to fly over to sunny beaches of Thailand or Hawaii. This is challenge and an opportunity. It is challenge to those who can’t join their families, older people, like my father, Anselmi 96, living in his house alone. And it is a challenge to those, many of us, who have not lived together for many years and now we need to know how to tolerate each other’s personalities for a few days, at least. But more, this is an opportunity to go back to basics, keep the connections by using technical means, and to re-build the relations with care and love.
The past year has not been the most fancy one. Definitely not. And it is not over yet. However, the new year 2021 has now many promises. There are many things we should be looking forward to. For sure, not all the global problems will not fade away but with some luck (and vaccine) the new year has all the possibilities to be much better.
Each person, each family have their own situations. There is no averaging on personal matters. Taking this into account, I still wish Happy, Peaceful Christmas time to all my family members, friends, and everybody who might end up reading these lines.