2020 – what an awfully strange year!

What can I say? I first thought of writing something profound, but what is the point?

2020 will go down in history as one of the worst years of everyone’s life.

This was a year where we had to reinvent ourselves and everything we were used to doing.

It was a tough year for me – I lost my last grandparent. My grandfather died at the age of 96 on my brother’s birthday (18 November). Luckily, he didn’t pass away from Covid, but old age. He did test positive earlier in the year but hardly shown any symptoms. I miss him so much!

Oupa Barend Linde (b. 1924 – d. 2020)

It is actually a relief that he is not around anymore. This year has especially sucked for the elderly.

My dad’s Parkinson’s diagnosis has been confirmed. And the worst part is, he doesn’t know he has it. My mom’s afraid that if we tell him, he might just give up al together. He’s slowly declining, his balance is getting worse, he is super skinny and falls down sometimes.

There was the 5 week-plus hiatus at home, when our country started the lockdown and you could hardly go anywhere. I know I wished for some time off of work, but not like this! The awful suspense of not knowing if I would have a job to go back to while watching as other news outlets had to close their doors… Reduced salary for three months.

Somehow we were able to get back on a full salary, close for two weeks in December and still get a bonus!

It was also the year I found out I am insulin-resistant. I actually expected the worst because I am a terrible sweet tooth and let myself go the last three years or so. Emotional overeating.

Luckily I can still try to better myself. I have pills that stops my pancreas from producing too much insulin and helps one lose weight. I have actually lost 4 kilograms starting from August.

It hasn’t all been bad. It started out so great. I got to see my idol Rafael Nadal play live in Cape Town against Roger Federer. I had to pinch myself every time sitting there, freezing my ass off.

Me “posing” with my tennis idol.

It was also my first visit to Cape Town. What fun we had!

Me goofing off in the castle.

Then I got my first scare, when a stranger contacted us two weeks later saying he found my ID at the airport. I didn’t even know it was gone!

2020 was the year a friend and I started our book club. Not just any old book club, we are a bunch of girls sharing our love for books. If it weren’t for WhatsApp it would not have lasted!

I paid off my car! Super relieved about that.

Also, my brother finally got married! Although it was touch and go, because it was raining at the time and everyone was praying for it to stop long enough so the wedding could continue. I was stupid enough to wear high heels and had to walk barefoot through the mud because it was an outside occasion. Then I made an even bigger fool of myself by dedicating a song to my brother and totally missed the mark. Oops!

Dressed up.

I am planning on celebrating New Year’s by trying to make my first Pavlova: it’s a meringue fruity dessert. If it’s a success, I might post it tomorrow.