“Tomorrow is the first blank page of a 365-page book. Write a good one.” – Brad Paisley

We are literally in the end of 2020. Same time last year, we were all getting ready for the festive fireworks display in the city. None of us expected what the next year would bring us.

Most of us have faced a lot of struggles during the year… some have it worse than others or some have a different story to tell all together.

So what was 2020 like for you?

Some may say that it has been the worst that they have experienced, or it sucks, or they can’t wait for 2020 to be over.  But for those with some positivity in them, they may say that 2020 is not all that bad.

Here is my 2020 in photos: (Please click image to enlarge)

January, February and March was a time when I visited my favourite country town of Sassafras, and had our brunch as a family at a Mexican food truck, and a walkabout near the beach. It seems such a long time ago…no masks…no sanitisers…hugging….kissing…going anywhere I liked.

I didn’t know that lockdown would last that long. So the first few months, I enjoyed just lazing around the house doing nothing and ordered food online so as not to catch any virus from the outside world.

It really dawned on me that this was a serious matter when April came and we weren’t able to celebrate Easter like we normally did. Easter is a big thing for us Catholics and it was also the birth month of Pat. It was sad to think that I had no contact with family whatsoever during this time.

We had a bit of reprieve from the lockdowns in May. Cases became less so we were able to catch up with family during the latter part of the month.

But that freedom was only short lived and we had stricter lockdowns from July 7. The numbers of cases still increasing daily, so not even a month passed by when curfew was imposed. Schools, retail, manufacturing were all shut and a talk about recession is looming. People were just allowed to do exercise for an hour and during this time, nature was my constant companion.

Under the Metropolitan stage 4 restrictions, we were allowed to travel only up to 5 kms in radius from our home. My husband’s Birthday, Father’s Day and Anniversaries were all celebrated with deliveries of food and vouchers or any creative way of showing that you care.

It was only in October when the allowable distance was widened to a radius of 20 km. That was when I was able to catch up with my daughter in a park that is halfway between us. I can’t help but cry when I saw her. That was when I had my belated birthday celebration.

Little by little the number of cases were going down and the premier of Victoria is telling us that the strict rules are in view of a more normal Christmas…that we can celebrate with our loved ones. And sure enough on November 8, Melburnians were out of the “lockdown of steel”. We were able to celebrate Christmas with our family and friends without fear.

61 days after being Covid free, Melbourne now has 3 cases again. Strict precautions are being done to be able to contain the virus. New set of rules were already announced earlier about the number of people that you can meet up with. But it is only about 7 more hours til it’s 2021… no fireworks in Melbourne …. no festivities … but a simple dinner with friends.

Here is hoping that it will be a better year and a better future for the whole world.